Down the Rabbit Hole
by Falcrow
Summary: When a silly prank takes a nasty turn, Nico finds himself falling into the underground. Trapped behind the magic barrier, and exhausted from the previous week's trip, Nico finds himself walking his way through the underground. Set right after the war with Gaea, Nico replaces Frisk on a true pacifist run. Lots of fluffy shenanigans.
1. Chapter 1

**Ayyy so I was watching Jack's genocide run, specifically the part before the king's chamber with Sans, and I started thinking about what would happen if Nico fell into Mount Ebott when all the monsters are still there, so I think I'll just have him replace Frisk. Basically, I want some Nico-Sans-Papyrus interactions. But alas, there are no Percy Jackson and Undertale crossovers! Or at least there weren't when I started writing this. So I figure I might as well start one. Enjoy!**

Nico is having a bad day. He'd been spending the weekend sleeping his bed in cabin 13, exhausted after his trip dragging the Athena Parthenos halfway across the world, when Percy and Jason thought it be a grand idea to wake him up. Now that wouldn't have been TOO big of a problem, but they decided the best way to do it was to flip his mattress over with him still snuggled up on top of it. The resulting feeling of falling triggered the one thing he'd had to do when he'd first woken up for the past week or so. Shadow travel. Nico, who had fallen asleep in his clothes because he was so bone dead tired the night before, fell from his coffin shaped bed and through the shadow covered floor, blood red blanket in tow.

The first thing his panic filled mind registers when he realizes what happened was how pissed Solace was going to be when he found out he'd shadow traveled again when the son of Apollo had very firmly told him not to do that very thing. The second was that the feeling of falling hadn't stopped yet, when he had left the shadows already. Nico opens his eyes, and sees the blue sky filled with fluffy clouds through a round hole is some kind of ceiling or roof. His tired mind slowly registers the fact the the hole seems to be getting smaller and smaller with each passing moment. His eyes widen in panic as he puts two and two together to realize he feels like he's falling because he _i_ _s_ falling.

Nico's landing is far from soft, though he guesses it could have been worse. At least there isn't anything sharp, just some yellow-gold flowers. His eyes droop, and sleep starts calling to him once again. He was tired before, but the shadow travel drained any sort of rest he'd gotten. He might as well, he'd need his energy for the shadow travel back up. He should probably look around for any monsters, but the need for sleep makes his limbs heavy, and even raising his head seems like too much of a bother. Plus, he can't hear anything, just the sound of water dripping somewhere off in the distance. So with that in mind, Nico let his eyes close and quickly fall asleep.

When he wakes, he's pleased to find that nothing has really changed. The circle of sky has turned a reddish orange, so he's slept through the day. He feels better, at least well enough to travel back up. Solace will probably kill him, but he needed to be back at camp for him to do that, so he'd just have to forgive him for one more. He bundles up his blanket, then steps into the shadows and pictures the med tents at camp, he was going to be tired again, and Solace would probably want to check up on him once he got back. Plus it was a sure fire way to make sure someone knew where he was before he passed out again. Everything seems to be fine, that is, until Nico hits something. How he hit something when he was made of shadows, he wasn't sure. What he _was_ sure of was that it hurt. _A lot._ The pain added with his exhaustion was enough to convince Nico to reform, even though he had no idea where he would be when he did. He knows he's back to physical form, and he manages to register the fact that he's falling again before he blacks out.

He wakes to the feeling of someone gently shaking his shoulder. For a moment, he doesn't remember what happened hours earlier, and grumbles quietly about deserving another hour's rest as he rolls over and away from the warm hand on his arm. The memories come back, however, and soon he's jolting into a sitting position and scrambling backwards, acutely aware of his lack of weapon. He's in the same place as the first time he woke up. He makes eye contact with whoever or whatever woke him. He cocks his head slightly when his brown eyes meet dark red ones. He was woken up by a goat. In a blue robe. He rubs the sleep out of his eyes, but the white goat lady is still there, sitting on her legs in a relaxed kneeling position. He'd never heard of a monster that was described as an anthropomorphic white goat, but what else could this creature be other than a monster?

"Hello there, my child, my name is Toriel. What is yours?" she asks.

Nico was mentally prepared for her to do a lot of things, politely introducing herself was not one of them. Not that he's complaining, it just didn't happen that often, if ever. So he does the logical thing and answers her. Maybe he can find out where he ended up shadow traveling to? It was worth a shot.

"Nico di Angelo. Where am I?" he asks quietly.

"I'm afraid you've fallen into the Underground. To be more specific, into the ruins I'm the caretaker of." she replies.

Nico sits quietly for a moment, eyes on the ground, trying to decide what he should ask next. The Underground might just be another name for the Underworld, but then why couldn't he shadow travel out?

Toriel speaks again, "You seem awfully tired, would you like to come back to my house? It's not very big, but I do have a spare bed you could sleep in."

Nico looks back up and blinks. Toriel is smiling sweetly, a furry white paw extended out towards him. Several thoughts flash through Nico's mind in the span of about a second. The first being that the offer sounds a lot like a trap, the second being that if she wanted to hurt him, it would have been easier if she'd done it while he was asleep, and the third being that a bed sounded absolutely heavenly right now. His mind quickly made up, he gives his hand to the kind caretaker, and allows her to pull him to his feet. She leads him through the ruins, talking about the different puzzles. Nico only really half listens to most of it, still drowsy from waking up from his nap. But he completely tunes in when she mentions other monsters.

"Here, practice talking to this dummy, you don't have any weapons on you, so just distract any monsters you come across until I can come and resolve the conflict. You don't want to hurt anyone anyway, right?" she asks.

Nico hesitates, Toriel has been so kind to him, he doesn't want to disappoint her, but he doesn't want to lie either. So he chooses his words carefully.

"No, but what if I have to defend myself when you aren't around?" he asks quietly.

She turns and faces him fully, her tone curious, "What do you mean, my child?"

Nico looks at the ground and whispers, "This... This isn't the first time I've met monsters. They weren't the kind that were interested in conversation, they were kind of set on eating me."

Nico waits for her to say something. A warm padded paw gently rubs his head, mussing his already tangled black hair. He looks back up at her.

"Earlier, you asked a question about where we were, have you ever been to the Underground before?" her tone is patient, but serious.

Nico tilts his head in thought, "I don't think so, but it sounds a lot like the Underworld, which I have been to. Before, I thought maybe that was just another name for it. But it doesn't _feel_ like the Underworld, now that I think about it."

Toriel nods her head, "I've never heard the Underground called that. What kind of monsters did you face, do you know the names of their species?"

Nico hesitates again, "It's kind of a long list... The only one I can think of right now is a manticore that came after my sister and I a few years ago.

"I assume this was not in your Underworld?"

"No, this was in the realm of the living." Nico replies.

"The surface?" Toriel points up.

Nico nods, and Toriel places a hand on her chin in thought. She naps her fingers as if she's come to a conclusion.

"I don't think think it was a monster in the same way that I am, or the other beings here, for that matter. I might have a book that could help clear this up back at the house, we can read it once you've rested, if you like. But for know, stick to talking to the monsters you meet here. At the very least, you can start trying to show monsters mercy now, right?" She smiles.

Nico is surprised to say the least, not only is Toriel willing to forgive him for taking the lives of creatures similar to her, but there might be other kinds of monsters? This had definitely peaked his interest, but he really was tired. So he settles for nodding and continuing on through the ruins. He nearly jumps out of his skin when a strange frog jumps over to him a few minutes later. His ADHD mind is reeling, so he blurts the first thing that comes to mind.

"I really like your eyes."

And they are very nice eyes, one is a vibrant blue, the other is a neon yellow. He feels the heat of a blush crawl up his neck and on his cheeks, but strangely enough, he's not the only one. The large frog rubs the back of it's head, it's cheeks stained red, then it jumps out of it's own skin in fear when Toriel walks over with an unimpressed look on her face. It hops away, but turns back to wave before it disappears around the corner. He finds himself smiling after it, amused by its reactions. He's so lost in his own thoughts, that he finds himself jumping out of his skin, unintentionally mimicking the strange frog monster, when Toriel tousles his hair again.

"That was very good. Froggits will leave you be if you give them compliments like that. But be warned that not all monsters will be swayed by compliments, like Icecaps. They'll never leave you be if you comment on their hats."

Nico laughs quietly, "I'll keep that in mind. I would think that it's something different for every monster then?"

Toriel smiles, "To befriend them? Yes, isn't it the same for humans?"

Nico grins up at her, "Yes. I suppose it is."

With that, they continue through the ruins. They walk in silence, but Nico doesn't feel uncomfortable in it. If anything, it was companionable and comforting. The horned monster just gave off the kind of relaxing comfort in waves. He tries thinking of the last time he'd felt this comfortable around someone: Will was steadily getting there, but the storm of skeletal butterflies that resurrects in his stomach whenever he was close to the son of Apollo suggested otherwise. Jason wasn't quite there either, don't get him wrong, Jason was an awesome friend, but the thought of how they got there always made Nico a bit irritated. He would have done better if he'd been able to tell him in his own time. A voice in the back of his head tells him that they would have never been friends then, but he ignores it. Hazel? The sweet and caring girl was probably the closest so far. His half sister was definitely easier to be around than others, and he felt extremely protective of her. But being around Toriel made him feel like he was the one being looked after, not the other way around. It was a similar idea when it came to Renya, the praetor seems to understand him on a different level than everyone else, but the feeling was kind of mutual? It was like they could stand back to back, and trust the other to back them up, no matter what they where facing. Bianca was the last person to come to mind, but it fit a lot better than everyone else. She protected him to the best of her abilities before they made it to camp, even though she left, he understood why now. She wanted to find her own person, and she finally felt like she could do that, because he would be safe with the others at camp. As safe as a demigod could be, anyway. He also had a theory that she liked the idea of being immortal. It would understandable if she was afraid of dying. Demigods always seemed to be afraid of their godly parents domains, in one form or another. Look at Thalia. He also remembers his own panicky feeling whenever he was completely surrounded by darkness. He shuddered involuntarily, but set his thoughts aside when Toriel came to a stop in front of a marble pillar.

"I'm sorry my child, but there are a few things I need to take care of. Would you mind too terribly if I left you here for a while?"

Nico blinks, "I guess, but at the same time, wouldn't be kind of a bad idea? I'm dead on my feet right now."

Toriel tilts her head in thought, "Well, I suppose you could try to keep yourself occupied by trying some of the puzzles up ahead. But I haven't taught you anything about them, so it might be too dangerous... Ah! I have an idea."

Toriel pulls something out from the inside her robe. She gestures for his hand, and presses it into his palm when he gives it to her. It's a cellphone, oddly enough. A surprisingly modern looking smartphone with a small metal key chain hanging off it.

Nico doesn't try to hide his surprise or his joking tone, "You guys get service down here?"

Toriel laughs quietly, "Only with other phones down here. My number is already in there, so call me if you get into trouble, or if you need a hint on the puzzles."

Nico nods and smiles gratefully, "Thank you, really. I'll be careful."

Toriel smiles and pats his head, "It's no problem, my child. There aren't any forks in the path to my house, though there is more than one way to get there. I know that doesn't really make sense, but it's like there isn't a wrong turn you can take. Good luck!"

With that, Toriel disappears around the corner, leaving Nico to investigate his new phone. He unlocks it, and was pleasantly surprised at the number of apps already installed. He mentally notes them down. Music, contacts, messages, and "Tumblrawr." He remembers a few of the newer campers mentioning a site called Tumblr before, so he guessed this was the monster equivalent or spin off. He tucks his hands into the pockets on his aviator jacket with his phone and heads off down the corridor. He's surprised to see red leaves lying in neat piles, seeing as he hasn't seen any trees and he's underground. But he shrugs it off and looks around a bit more. There's an empty doorway with a Froggit sleeping nearby, or he can continue down the corridor. He goes through the doorway, and is surprised to find a tray of pink, blue, and yellow candy sitting on a small marble podium. There's a note sitting next to it, "Take one."

Nico cocks his head. Candy, in a place like this? He turns to leave, but the sound of metal hitting stone makes him stop in his tracks. He turns to see a sheepish looking Froggit rubbing the back of his head, candy scattered everywhere. Much to Nico's surprise, it jumps forward and offers him one of the pieces. Nico crouches down to it's eye level, and huffs out a laugh when he realizes it's the one with mismatched eyes that he met earlier. He takes the offered candy, noting the name is "Monster Candy," then picks up the metal dish and starts picking up the spilled treats. His small friend hops over and helps, and soon the dish is pack on the podium, good as new.

The frog monster waves goodbye, the hops off, candy in hand. Nico quietly laughs again at its antics, then heads back out and down the corridor. He's about to make a turn when something gently hits his chest. He looks down to see a strange hairy creature. It seems kind of like a bug, with it's entente and clear wings, but the large nose is enough to make him wonder. It looks genuinely terrified, and Nico feels a stab of guilt an concern. He slowly kneels down, and gently helps the poor thing to it's feet. It's shaking like crazy, so Nico gives it a small smile and whispers an apology from running into it. Its eyes widen to almost comical levels, and it shakes its head fervently. Pointing to itself. Ah, it thinks it's their fault? No wonder it looks terrified, he would be too if he ran into some strange creature three times it's size. Nico tilts his head to the side slightly, trying to think of a compromise.

"Maybe it's both of our fault? I don't think either of us were paying much attention to where we were going." he pauses to smiles at the blinking monster, "I'm happy to accept your apology, will you please except mine?"

The little bug is still shaking terribly, but it nods its head. Nico smiles again, and offers a finger for the creature to shake. It does so, very hesitantly, then takes off. Nico stands back up, and continues on his way. He hopes the little guy found himself a little braver than he was yesterday.

He passes a strange hole in the wall, then the floor suddenly give out from under him. He gives a startled yelp, but the fall isn't too far, and he somehow manages to land on his feet. He dusts himself off absentmindedly as he looks around. There are two different doors, both of which have stairways heading upwards. He picks the one on the right, and climbs up. The stairs dead end at a wall with a rectangle shaped hole cut in it. He peeks out to find the corridor he had just fallen down from, and manages to squeeze through to it, pulling his blood red blanket after him.

He huffs a little, but continues on to the next room. There's a rock sitting on stripe of warn down ground leading to a button in the floor, and a row of spikes on the floor perpendicular to it. He walks over to a sign on the wall, "Three out of four grey rocks recommend you push them." He takes the hint and shoves the rock onto the button. There's a clank and the spikes slip into the floor. He raises an eyebrow, but keeps going. He comes to an open area with a crumbly looking floor. His previous fall in mind, Nico decides a call to Toriel is in order. He flips open his phone and presses the contacts button. He selects Toriel's name, then the call button. She answers quickly.

"Hello?" she asks.

"Hi, Toriel?" Nico replies.

"Oh, Nico! How are you doing, any monsters giving you trouble?" she asks.

"No, actually. The Froggit from before, the one with the blue and yellow eyes, gave me some candy. Other than that, I've only met this small hairy bug guy. I had run into him and he was genuinely terrified. I managed to calm him down a little though, I hope he's okay..." he replies.

"Oh, that sounds like a Whimsun. They're very timid, so don't take it personally." she hums.

"I'll remember that. I was actually wondering about one of the rooms, it's big, the biggest one so far, but the ground doesn't look stable enough to hold my weight. I've already fallen through the floor once, I'd rather not do it again. How do I get across?" Nico asks.

"Oh, there's a pathway that's stable enough, I'll walk you through it."

Toriel did indeed, and Nico was careful to follow her instructions, testing the ground before he put his full weight on it. He sighs in relief when he makes it to the door.

He turns his attention back to the phone he's still holding to his ear, "Thanks Toriel."

"Oh, any time, my child. I'm happy to help. Before we hang up, do you like butterscotch or cinnamon more?" she asks.

Nico tilts his head, and starts walking down the corridor as he talks, "I've never really thought about it. I'm a big fan of cinnamon rolls, but butterscotch is good too. If I had to pick I think it would be cinnamon. Why?"

He can hear the smile in her voice when she replies, "Oh, no reason in particular. Call again if you need more advice, goodbye."

He stops walking as he reaches the next room, "I will, see you soon."

Nico locks his phone and puts it back in his pocket. It sounds like Toriel is trying to plan something, but he doesn't mind. He notes the three grey rocks and their respective paths and buttons. They look identical to the one a few rooms back. He pushes two of the three onto their buttons no problem, but the third wasn't having it.

"Woah, wait a second there, what do you think you're doing?" it asks.

Nico tilts his head (it feels like he's been doing that a lot today), the rock didn't have any features, but that didn't seem to stop it from talking in it's strange gravelly voice.

"Umm, well, I need to have a rock on all three of these buttons in order for me to pass. Would you mind too terribly if you sat on it while I go across the bridge?"

"Well, since you asked so nicely, sure, I don't mind!"

The rock then promptly scooted itself up onto the button. With a clank, the way is cleared, and Nico waves goodbye to the rocks after he's safely over the bridge. He starts giggling to himself when he suddenly realizes that the sign he had read in the first room with a rock was very literal. He walked past a table with some cheese that had been there Zeus knows how long, and on to the next room. He stops when he sees a white ghost lying on the ground. Not a ghost like what he was used to, but one that looked like one a child would draw, or a Halloween costume made with a sheet. And it was talking.

"Zzzzzz... Zzzzzzzz..."

It took Nico a moment to understand what it was doing, but once he did, a smile slipped onto his face.

"Are they gone?" it whispers.

"Well, I'm the only one here, so yes." Nico answers.

The ghost keeps saying "Z" over an over, so Nico cautiously sits down next to it.

"I'm Nico, what's your name?" He asks quietly.

The ghost opens one eye, and Nico finds himself a little startled at how sad it looks. Nico smiles patiently at him, trying to encourage him. The ghost looks a teeny bit better.

"...Napstablook." the sad ghost whispers.

"It's nice to meet you, Napstablook." Nico's smile grows a tad wider.

He'd couldn't think of a time when a ghost hadn't know who he was when they first met, so this was new. Just another point he could make to Toriel when they talk more about the differences between the monsters he'd met before and the ones in the Underground. The problem was, Nico didn't know what to do next. He wanted to be friends with the sad looking ghost, but he didn't really know what to say next. He taps his fingers against his phone in his pocket nervously, when his fingers brush up against the candy in his pocket.

His mind takes the idea and runs with it, and before Nico can really think it through, he blurts out, "Would you like my monster candy?" he pauses for a half second, and his brain catches up with what he's just said, "I-I, I mean, if you can eat it, I'm not sure if I should or not, seeing as I'm human and all..." he trails off, his ears turning pink in embarrassment.

The ghost folds in half, into a sitting position, and looks at Nico with both eyes open. Tears start to form in the corners of his giant round eyes, and Nico starts to back pedal.

"I'm sorry, that was a thoughtless question..."

There's another dip of silence, and Nico's eyes drift to his feet, then Napstablook whispers, "I don't know if I can eat it or not. Can I try? Sorry, I can't unwrap it or anything myself... I'm such a bother..."

Nico looks back up at the monster sitting next to him through his bangs. He's still crying, but Nico decides it isn't because of something he's said. So he nods and smiles again, pulling out the candy and unwrapping it for the arm-less spirit.

"Here, open up. I don't mind, really!"

Napstablook opens his mouth and leans forward a little, and Nico pops the candy into his mouth. Much to the surprise of them both, it doesn't fall through Napstablook. The ghost actually smiles as he chews the candy, and Nico feels a rush of accomplishment.

The ghost slowly finishes chewing, then says, "It was kind of strange tasting... I think the only flavor it didn't have was licorice... I did like it though... thank you... Do you want to see something cool?"

Nico nods, happy that Napstablook sounds a lot happier than he did a few minutes ago. The ghost starts crying again, but this time the white tears float up and condense into a top hat.

"I call it, 'Dapperblook.' Do you like it?"

Nico grins, "Yeah, Napstablook, it looks awesome on you."

The ghost smiles softly again, "Thanks... That's really nice of you to say... I usually come to the ruins because there's nobody around... But, today, I met somebody nice..." he pauses for a moment, "Oh, I'm rambling again... I'll get out of your way..."

With that, the ghost disappears, but Nico hopes he sees him again. He really was sweet, once Nico got him to start talking. Nico felt a strange rush and his lips formed a firm line involuntarily, if all the monsters down here where as nice as Napstablook, he would do his best to be kind to them all.

Nico felt like he was filled to the brim with determination.

 **Okay, that's all for now. I'll start writing the next chapter now, but I don't know when I'll finish it. I'll do my best, hopefully someone will get the same craving for a crossover that I did and read this. If not, oh well, I'm doing this mostly because it was something I wanted to read. I just figure that maybe someone else will too.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Ayyy, chapter two~**

Nico continued straight, and went through a door into a new room. It had a few spider webs and a sign that says "Spider Bake Sale, All proceeds go to real spiders." Nico kneeled down to read the papers stuck to the webs. One advertised spider donuts, the other spider cider. Nico checked his pockets, he actually had a few drachmas. He should save at least a few, just in case Iris Messages worked down here, but he could still see if he had enough to buy a donut. These spiders were obviously other monsters, so why not give some for the cause? If he was a child of Athena, then probably not. But he wasn't so he didn't see any harm in it. So he look for a spider so he could ask if the money he had was enough. The signs had simply said "gold" but he wasn't sure if that meant his Greek coins or not. He finally found one sitting on the wall opposite the doorway.

Nico felt a little silly, but quietly asked, "Um, excuse me, I'm new to the underground. How much is this worth? I'd like to buy a donut, if I can..."

He held the coin up to the spider so it could look at it properly, and to Nico's relief, that's exactly what it appeared to do. He jumped a little when it started hopping excitedly. It stretched out four of it's legs out to Nico, then twitched them back in a "gimme" motion. Nico laughed softly, he knew spiders were strong, but he doubted the small spider could carry the heavy gold coin. So instead he offered a hand for the tiny monster to crawl onto. It seemed to tilt it's head in confusion, but Nico wasn't 100% sure.

He explained anyway, "I know spiders are strong, but I'd rather not risk it. So show me where to put it so some of the spiders running the bake sale can come get it."

He was sure this time when the spider nodded, then crawled onto his hand. Nico had to try not to flinch at the feeling of tiny little legs touching bare skin, he managed it as it crawled up his arm and onto his shoulder. It pointed to the larger of the two webs with one of it's front legs, and Nico walked over to it, ever mindful of his tiny travelling companion. He carefully set the coin onto the web, making sure the fine threads would hold before letting go. Almost instantly, another, much larger, spider descended down a strand of silk and stopped a bit in front of Nico's face. It gestured to Nico's shoulder, the one with his small friend on it, and Nico nodded. It swung over easily, and started talking with the smaller spider, gesturing wildly at some points.

Eventually, the larger spider looks to Nico, and points back at the drachma he put on the web. Nico kneels back down, and hold his hand out, his fingertips touching the bottom of the coin. The larger spider crawled down his arm and inspected the coin much like the smaller had. After a moment, the small one joined the other on his hand, and pointed to the Greek letters running along the edge. The larger one through it's two front most legs in the air, as if to say, "Fine, I give up!" with that, the larger spider climbed back up the thread it came down on, and his small friend climbed back up to rest on his shoulder again. He threw a questioning look to it, but it just shrugged and pointed to the ground. Nico sat down, just as the larger spider returned. Or at least, he thought it was the same one, because three more that look pretty much exactly like it started their descent soon after. They landed on the larger web, and started wrapping up the drachma. As soon as it was covered in the fine silk threads, they broke the ones holding it to the web. Between the four of them, they started hauling it up and into the hole in the ceiling they'd come from.

Nico pulled out his phone and started flipping through the Tumblrawr app he'd seen earlier. Ten minutes later, two of the larger spiders came back. One dropped a donut and a napkin in his lap, the other carefully set a small jug next to him. Nico looked up and gave a small smile to them both.

He whispered, "Thank you, I hope it wasn't too much trouble."

One waved off his thanks, the other shrugged. Nico stood, tucked his new goodies in his pocket, and looked to the smaller spider still snuggled up on his shoulder.

"Do you want me to take you back to where you were, or are you comfy where you are?"

The small spider snuggled itself down even further into the fluff of his aviator jacket's collar. Well okay then.

Nico waved goodbye to the other two spiders and back tracked to the room where he met Napstablook, and hangs a right to go through the other doorway. It opens up to a room with more sleeping froggits. He walks quietly, not wanting to disturb them. He waves to a tiny one sitting in a crack in the wall, and it waves back happily. He continues on to the next hallway. The scene he walks into makes him scowl, there are three monsters in a fight, and it's quite obviously two against one. There's a one eyed monster with small horns and a tough looking beetle chasing after a strange slime monster. Not really taking time to think about it, Nico drops his blanket and steps forward. He pulls the two chasing monsters back.

"Hey! Knock it off, does two against one really seem fair to you?"

The two he grabbed flinch slightly at his tone of voice, and the last monster stops hopping away.

It's the horned monster that speaks first, "What's it to you? We were just having a little fun!"

Nico glances at the vaguely jello shaped monster sitting a few paces away. It seems to be shaking slightly, either from fear or exhaustion. Either one doesn't seem good to Nico, so he presses on.

"Don't you have something else you could do? I mean, chasing someone around can't be all that fun."

It's the beetle that speaks next, "LEGION! WE ARE LEGION!"

In a flash, the bug snaps at his hand. Nico yelps and lets go of the bug. He glares lightly at the offending bug before inspecting his hand. It could be worse, but it is bleeding a little and there will probably be a bruise there by tomorrow.

The one eyed monster speaks up, "I dunno, that looked pretty fun. What could be more fun than that?"

Nico blurts out the first thing that comes to mind, "Dancing. Dancing would be more fun."

The two bullies glare at him, and the horned monster speaks again, "Dancing is lame. Besides, we don't have anything that can play music."

Nico smirks and pulls out his phone, opening up the music app and pressing play. An upbeat, easy to dance to song starts up. Nico turns up the volume on his phone, and with a nervous smile, starts to dance. The small slime monster joins in almost as soon as he starts. After a moment, so does the beetle. It starts to smile and do the wave, making cheerful clicking noises. The horned monster looks doubtful, and takes a half a step back.

Nico tilts his head, "Come on, it's fun! At least try it."

The monster shakes its head, "You'll just make fun of me!"

Nico rolls his eyes, "No one is going to make fun of you, just relax. The only way you'll end up being uncool is if you just stand there and don't join in!"

The monster's one eye widens, and he takes a couple steps closer before stopping and taking a deep breath. He lets it out slowly, then starts to dance. He starts out slow and simple, but with some encouragement from Nico and the other monsters (or at least he THINKS the slime was encouraging him...) he gets the hang of it. By the end of the song, they're all laughing.

"That WAS fun, I'll have to ask my parents if I can have a radio or something so we can do this again!"

The monsters are all smiling, the jello monster making happy squish noises. They start making plans for meeting up again.

"I'm glad you're all getting along. No more bullying, okay?"

The two smile and chime together, "Okay!"

Nico smiles and waves good bye as they head back the way Nico came in. Nico takes a better look around, and sees more patches of unstable flooring, slots in the wall, and some spikes like the ones that retracted into the floor a few rooms back. Okay, so there's probably a switch down there somewhere. He walks back over to his blanket, and with careful fingers, scoops up his spider friend from off his shoulder.

"I've got to jump down some holes, so stay here until I find the switch, okay?"

The sleepy spider nods, and Nico sets him on the blanket. He walks over to the first patch of unstable flooring, and sighs. He gently pushes on the floor until a hole forms, then slips down. Much easier than waiting for it to collapse underneath his weight, doubly so without having to hang onto his blanket or worry about his friend falling off. He takes a quick look around, no switches or buttons anywhere. The room is really small though, and there's only one staircase. There's probably enough space for more rooms this size, so he'll just have to keep trying unstable patches. Just as he's about to start climbing back up, his stomach gives a loud grumble.

Hm. He hasn't eaten anything all day, has he?

Just as he's reaching for the donut and cider in his pockets, the top of a large carrot pops out of the ground. Nico blinks, then crouches down to inspect it better. He brushes the leafy top with his hand, and it pops out of the ground. Nico gives a startled squeak, and falls backwards on one hand. The vegetable, face now revealed, starts laughing creepily. Nico just stares for a moment, his mind catching up slowly.

"That was pretty dumb of me, wasn't it?" he mumbles.

The carrot hops out of it's hole, balancing easily on its tip. It wiggles forward and back a little. It takes Nico a second, but he realizes it's nodding.

The sentient carrot whispers, "Eat your greens."

Then it hops back into it's hole, disappearing once again. Nico laughs, then heads towards the stairs again. He stops when he notices the white vegetables sprouting up everywhere. He turns back around, eyebrows raised. Sprouting in the middle of the room is a single green sprout. Nico walks over to is and pulls it from its spot in the ground. It pulls up easily, and he's surprised to find it's another carrot. He blinks at it a couple times, mulling over what the veggie monster had said before it left as he rolls the green carrot over in his hands. If he's understanding what the monster wants correctly, this is for him to eat. He just wants to be sure he isn't accidentally eating one of its friends or something.

The carrot is without a face, so Nico carefully takes a bite. He raises his eyebrows and looks at the carrot again. That is one tasty vegetable. He continues munching as he treks up the stairs. It's super filling too. He comes up to the slot in the wall, and is surprised to find a second set of stairs going back down. He shrugs and follows them, and finds himself in a room near identical to the other. The only reason he knows it's a different one is from the lack of vegetables and the red ribbon on the ground. He bends down and picks it up. It has a bow tied in it, and the ends are frayed. He shrugs and puts it in his pocket.

He treks back up the stairs and squeezes out of the slot in the wall. He walks to the next patch, and repeats the process of making a hole. He's happy to find that this room has the switch, and pushes it up with a smile. He heads back up, and pauses before he slides through the gap in the wall. It wouldn't hurt to check the other room with the connecting stairs, right? He shrugs and heads down the second staircase. Who knows? Maybe there's some other stuff down here, like the ribbon he found earlier.

Instead of more treasure, he finds Napstablook lying on the ground. He walks over to him, then leans into the his line of sight.

"Hey, Napstablook. What are you doing down here?"

The sad ghost seems to snap out of its thoughts, "I fell down a hole... Now I can't get up... Go on without me..."

Nico smiles at the sad ghost, "Well, ghost can fly, right? even if they couldn't, I'd find a way to drag you up the stairs if I had to."

The ghost blinks at him a couple times, then a small smile found its way onto his face. He disappeared again without another word. Nico doesn't mind, he's sure he'll run into the ghost again. He heads back up the stairs, and through the gap in the wall. The spikes have retracted into the floor, just like Nico thought they would. He finds and puts his spider friend on his shoulder, and picks up his blanket. He carries on down the hall, when he runs into more floor spikes. He looks around for another lever, and finds signs instead.

"If you can read this, press the blue switch?" he mumbles.

He looks around the room, and lo and behold, a baby blue colored switch. He pushes it down, and he hears a clank. He walks over the spike plate, only to be hit with a wave of deja vu. This room looks exactly like the one he just came from. He looks around better this time, there are two signs close to the doorway he just came through.

The one to his left reads, "The far door is not an exit. It simply marks a rotation in perspective."

Wow. Um, okay. Why not?

Nico turns his attention to the sign on his right, "If you can read this, press the red switch."

Well alright, it worked last time. He finds the red switch by the pillar closest to the exit and the spikes retract. He continues through, only to find himself in the same room a second time. It was really throwing off his sense of direction. He would try the last button, and if he still found himself in the same room, he would call Toriel for an explanation. He pushes the green button and continues to the next room. Much to his surprise, he's made it to a different room, even though he's take three right turns in a row. He shakes off the thought for now, he'd have to ask Toriel about it later. He takes a left, and passes through another door.

There's a giant black tree growing in the middle of the path, its base surrounded by leaves. Just as Nico walks up and places a hand on the base of the trunk, he hears Toriel.

"Oh dear, that took longer than I thought it would."

She comes just into Nico's line of sight, stopping at the side of the tree. She pulls out her phone, and just as she's lifting it to her ear, she spots him. She looks surprised.

"Oh, Nico! How did you get here so fast? I was just about to call to check up on you, my child. Are you hurt?"

Toriel goes into full mother hen mode when Nico sheepishly holds up his injured hand. She's holding it in a firm but gentle grasp while he tries to explain.

"It's fine Toriel, really. I've healed from worse, and it doesn't hurt. It'll probably bruise, but that's all. It was worth the scratch anyway."

"What do you mean, my child? How did you get hurt?"

Nico scratched his cheek with his uninjured hand, seeing as Toriel was still holding onto the other, "Well, I might have been breaking up a fight."

Toriel gave him a withering look that insisted he explain further, "There where these two monsters bullying another one, I holding them back and trying to convince them to stop. We had a dance party, they went home happy. They said they would stop."

Toriel sighed, then smiled. She softly ruffled his hair again.

"So long as this is the only injury, I guess I can't complain. Just please try to be more careful in the future, my child."

Nico smiles softly, "I'll do my best."

Toriel releases his hand, "Well! I have a surprise for you, so let's go inside."

 **I think I'll leave this chapter here. :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**DOOP**

Nico follows Toriel and is happy to see a small house nestled at the back of the cave. How he missed it before, he doesn't know. Maybe finally seeing a tree distracted him? Oh well, he'd here now, and he can finally get some sleep. He follows Toriel inside, where his nose catches a wonderful scent of home baked goods. His mouth waters, he had that tastey green carrot earlier, but he's hungry again.

"Do you smell that? Surprise! It is a butterscotch-cinnamon pie. I thought we might celebrate your arrival. I want you to have a nice time while living here."

A wave of uneasiness washes of Nico, leaving a pit in his stomach. Despite her kind tone, the specific wording leaves him feeling the urge to run.

Toriel continues, unaware of Nico's silent distress, "So I will hold off on snail pie for tonight. Here, I have another surprise for you."

She turns and walks down the hall to Nico's right. Nico hesitates for a half a moment, then follows her.

"This is it..." Toriel gently pulls him forward by the hand, "A room of your own. I hope you like it!"

She ruffles his hair again. Nico genuinely hopes that Toriel doesn't really think he'd going to stay here indefinitely, but that kind of seems like where her thoughts are headed. She takes her hand off his head, and sniffs the air.

"Is something burning...? Um, make yourself at home!"

With that, she hurries off back down the hall. Nico takes a couple calming breathes in and out, then pulls open the door to the room he'll be staying in. It's obviously a room for a child younger than himself, but it definitely has a homey feeling. It's got toys, a closet, some spare shoes, but most importantly, a soft looking bed. Nico almost falls into on the spot, but he remembers his tiny friend resting on his shoulder. He drops his blanket from his cabin back at camp on the ground, and makes a makeshift nest for the spider in the folds. He pokes the spider awake, and it drowsily stumbles down his arm and into the blanket. Nico chuckles quietly, then pulls off his shoes, lining them up by the end of the bed. His crawls under the covers and is out before his head hits the pillows.

When he wakes, the room is a lot darker than he remembers. He peaks out from under the covers, and realizes he had forgotten to turn the light out before he fell asleep. It was out now, so Toriel must have come in a checked on him at some point. He rubs the sleep out of his eyes and climbs out of bed. He almost steps on the piece of pie sitting on the middle of the floor. At the rumbling of his stomach, Nico picks up the fork and starts eating it. It's delicious, to say the least. He'd never had thought that butterscotch and cinnamon would go together, but they did. Nico carefully left a small piece from one of the top corners for his still sleeping spider friend. He left it by the blankets, then quietly crept out the door.

His sock clad feet didn't make a sound as he walked down the hall. He stuck is hands in his pockets, and his fingers brushed cold metal. He pulls out a drachma, and remembers his idea for trying to Iris Message someone at camp. Continues down the hall, past the staircase. He'd have to ask Toriel if there was a sink or something he could make a rainbow with. He finds her sitting in a plush armchair, glasses perched on her nose as she reads a book. She looks up as he comes in, her hearing must be amazing.

"Hello my child, did you sleep well?" Nico nods, "Um, I want you to know how glad I am to have someone here. There are so many old books I want to share. I want to show you my favorite bug hunting spot. I've also prepared a curriculum for your education. This may come as a surprise to you... But I've always wanted to be a teacher."

The pit in Nico's stomach had intensified, but surprisingly enough, he didn't really feel afraid. It's more towards he was dreading the time he would tell her he wasn't staying. She seemed pretty lonely here, in this empty but warm house in the empty but cold ruins.

Nico smiles in spite of himself as Toriel continues, "... actually perhaps it isn't very surprising," her face changes for an instant, sort of like it did when she was scaring off the froggit, "STILL."

Nico laughs quietly.

"I am glad to have you living here."

Aaaaand there's the pit back in his stomach. He had to tell her, the sooner, the better. He couldn't stay here, for the first time Nico felt like there were people waiting for him to come back. He didn't want to be forgotten, not anymore.

Toriel gives him the perfect opportunity, "Oh, did you want something? What is it?"

Nico musters up as much courage as he can, and takes a deep breath in, "Toriel, you do know I can't stay here too long, right?"

He feels horrible, Toriel's face saddens almost instantly. Her eyebrows crease, and she looks away from him.

He continues on, "I'm sorry, I really am. You seem like a wonderful and caring person. But I have people waiting for me, probably panicking because I haven't tried to contact them. Toriel, if they don't think I'm dead now, they will soon. The way I got here, it was dangerous for me to do that at the time. I've been doing it way too much lately. They might start thinking I faded away because of it, if I don't get back soon."

Toriel looks back up at him, and tears have made the fur under her eyes damp, "I'm sorry, my child, you are right. I have no right to keep you here when you have a family to get back to."

Nico smiles softly. He didn't feel that particular way about the majority of the camps, but there _were_ the select few that did. Like Hazel, Renya, and maybe even Jason. So he didn't correct her.

"I'd like to try something, is there some place I can make a rainbow?"

She looks confused, but points to the doorway behind her. Nico smiles and nods his thanks, then walks into the cozy little kitchen. He strolls over to the sink and turn it one high. He presses his thumb to the tap and makes a fine spray aimed at the back of the basin. The light in the kitchen is enough to make a faint rainbow. He Pulls one of his drachmas out of his coat pocket. He pauses for a moment to decide who to call, and tosses it into the colorful patch.

"Oh Iris, goddess of the Rainbow, please accept my offering. Show me Will Solace."

Nico's heart drops when the coin clinks against the sink. Whatever was blocking cell signals and keeping from shadow traveling must be blocking IMs too. Nico turns the tap back off and pockets the drachma. He doesn't know how long he's been down here, but it's probably getting close to twenty-four hours. They're all probably out hunting him down. The thought of them worrying like that makes his stomach twist. He walks back into the previous room and sits down cross legged on the floor in front of where Toriel is still sitting. She looks up from her book again.

"Did the sink work?" she asks.

"Kind of. I got a rainbow, but the IM didn't go through. Something's blocking it," he replies.

"IM?" she asks.

"Iris message," he clarifies.

He waits for a moment, to see if there's any sort of recognition on her face. There is none, instead, she furrows her brows in confusion.

"Like the flower? Why would you need a rainbow for a message sent by a flower?"

Nico smiles softly, "Not an iris, _the_ Iris. With a capital 'I'. She's the greek goddess of the rainbow. She'll make a connection with pretty much whoever you like if you give her an offering."

Toriel's frown deepens, "A goddess? Really?"

Nico nods, "Yeah. I'm actually a demigod. I'm guessing you haven't heard of those?"

Toriel shakes her head, "No, I can't say I have. Maybe you should start from the beginning?"

"This is going to be kind of hard to explain... Are you sure? It will take a while..." he trails off.

"Yes, I think I'd like that. I can tell you my story next, if you like."

Nico nods and smiles again. He takes a moment to gather his thoughts, trying to decide where to start. Might as well ask Toriel, seeing as he's impartial and she's going to have to suffer through his rambling.

"Which beginning do you want? There's the start of the gods, the start with my mother, or the start of when I first found out I'm a demigod."

Toriel cocks her head to the side, "The last one, I think. I think I'd like learning it in the order you did."

"Alright then. Well, when I was around 10, my older sister and I were attending a school called Westover Hall. One day, during a school dance, on of the teachers there tried to kidnap us. Turns out he wasn't human, but the manticore I mention earlier." Nico pauses, checking to make sure Toriel remembered.

Once she nods, he continues, "He was very set on eating us and getting respect from the titans. The titans, they're not exactly good guys. A group of kids a bit older than my sister, Bianca, tried to fight it off. One of them, a girl named Annabeth, got knocked off a cliff in the struggle. Another group of kids came to the rescue, the hunters of Artemis. She's another goddess. The kids from before, or the three that were still left, told us that we were demigods. They wanted us to come back to their training camp of sorts, called Camp Half Blood."

Toriel raises her hand, much to Nico's amusement. He nods, pausing for her question.

"What is a demigod? You never did say."

"Oh, sorry. They're the half human kids of the gods. I'll get to my parentage later," Toriel nods in understanding and Nico continues, "Anyway, the kids that killed the manticore wanted Bianca to join their hunt. It's a girls only thing, and they have to swear off dating boys and stuff. They become immortal, so long as they aren't killed in battle. They don't age and they get to hang out with Artemis all the time, so I can get the appeal. I get why she joined up now, but at the time, I felt angry and betrayed. Especially because I wasn't exactly the easiest kid to like," Nico scrunches up his nose a little, "I... I was annoying and clingy. I didn't understand which questions were okay to ask and which ones crossed the line. It made me hard to be around. I get that now, but again, it just made me even angrier with Bianca for leaving me alone when I didn't have any friends at camp."

Nico pauses for a moment, thinking up more details he might have left out that where important, "So the kids that took me to camp where Percy, a son of Poseidon-the god of the sea; Thalia daughter of Zeus, the god of the sky; Annabeth, the chick who fell of the cliff, was a daughter of Athena, who's the goddess of wisdom and battle tactics; and Grover, who's a satyr. They're these woodland monsters that have the torso of a man, and the pelvis down of a goat. Anyway, once we all made it to camp, and some drama between the hunters and the campers, they set up a quest to find Artemis and Annabeth. Bianca gave me this," Nico holds up his hand so Toriel could see the skull shaped ring on his finger, "before she left with the other hunters, though I didn't know she was going with them at that point. I overheard her and one of the other hunters talking about it a bit later. I made Percy promise to keep her safe, since he was going too so he could look for Annabeth. Demigods die on quests a lot, and I was worried, but it wasn't really fair of me to make him promise..." Nico rubs the back of his neck a little, looking at the floor, "She... She didn't come back. Percy was the one that told me. She saved everyone from this giant sentry robot thing. Being the angry little kid I was, I over reacted. It wasn't his fault, but I told him I hated him, and how I could feel her soul being judged down in the Underworld."

Toriel looks confused again, so Nico elaborated again, "The Underworld is this place, deep underground, where all the souls of the dead go. It's where all the different afterlife places are. Some are nice, others are not so great, painful even. Most anyone who goes down there while still alive don't come back. It's the land of the dead, so the living don't like the atmosphere, it doesn't _feel_ right. It's ruled over by Hades. Along with Zeus and Poseidon, he's one of the most powerful gods. They're usually referred to as "the big three" but it's not official or anything."

Toriel nods in understanding, but still looks confused, "Is it a demigod ability to feel the souls of others being judged? Or is it just siblings?"

"This is actually the part of the story where my parentage was revealed. I was so upset, that I accidentally summoned four skeletal warriors. I didn't really want them to hurt Percy, so I ended up sending them back to the underworld just as fast as I summoned them, but the scar on the ground is still there, at camp. My father is Hades."

Toriel nods again, the confusion gone, "Is that why you're familiar enough with the feel of the Underworld to know that the Underground isn't the same place?"

Nico nods, "Yeah, I've spent a lot of time down there, helping my dad when I can and stuff. Any way, long story short, I disappeared into the Labyrinth, this ever changing gigantic maze under the crust of the earth, where I met this awful ghost named Minos. He convinced me to listen to his instructions, and he taught me how to use my powers. By the time the others found me, he had fed me a LOT of lies. I ended up banishing him, and earned the title, "Ghost King." Very pompous, I know."

Toriel laughs, and Nico smiles at the sound, glad he'd moved past most of the heavy stuff.

"There's not really much else that's really important. I mean, they DID find Artemis and Annabeth. There was a war, and I convinced my dad to fight in it with the other gods. It was quiet for all of three months before Percy got himself kidnapped by Hera, Zeus's wife and goddess of marriage. I found him in this Roman camp, he'd lost his memory."

Toriel raised her hand again, "Roman? Didn't you say it was Greek gods?"

Nico smiles, "Yeah. The Romans adopted pretty much any religion of whoever they took over. Made the people more willing to go quietly, if that makes sense. The Romans did that with the greeks too. They tweaked their legends, mostly names and appearances, but it mostly stayed the same. So the greek gods were influenced by this, and gained this sort of bipolar disorder. Whenever they're around a lot of roman stuff, or there kids, they take on their roman form. Same with the greeks. It's weird, but it also makes sense. I mean, I already knew that the gods could manifest in more than one place at once. So why not be able to change a bit and appear as two different people? It's not _that_ big of a stretch..."

Nico sighs, "It's strange that it makes sense to me, why is my life so _weird_."

Toriel laughs louder this time, and after she quiets down a bit, Nico continues.

"Anyway, so while Percy was at Camp Jupiter, the roman camp, this kid named Jason was being toted off to Camp Half Blood. He's a son of Jupiter, who's Zeus's equivalent. The camp's name makes sense now, right? Hera had heard this prophecy and decided she knew what it was supposed to mean. But nobody really knows that, they're confusing and vague. It worked out in the end, we stopped a civil war and made a bunch of new friends. I..." Nico trails off, wondering where his ADHD brain was going with this, "I finally feel like camp is home. Both of them. It's a nice change."

Toriel smiles and asks, "I said earlier that you had a family to get back to, and you didn't correct me. Am I right in assuming that you feel like you have family there?"

Nico nods, a small smile slipping onto his face, "Yeah, Jason is actually one of them. We ended up becoming good friends during a quest a while after the mix up between Jason and Percy was straightened out. He's like an overly supportive older brother, really. Other than him, there's my half sister Hazel. She's a daughter of Pluto, Hades's equivalent. I found her in the underworld when I was looking for Bianca. I couldn't find her, but decided that Hazel deserved a second chance. I brought her to Camp Jupiter. She was on that quest with Jason too, along with Percy, Annabeth, the two greek demigods that were with Jason when he was first taken by Hera, and Hazel's boyfriend. The two that came with Jason are Piper and Leo. I'm not particular close with either of them, but they seem nice enough. Piper's a daughter of Aphrodite, who's the goddess of love and beauty, and Leo's a son of Hephaestus, god of forges. Hazel's boyfriend, Frank, is a son of Mars. He's the roman god of war, but Frank's a big softie. He takes good care of Hazel, and she really cares about him. Plus he likes mythomagic, so maybe we could be friends, you know, if I had some time to actually talk to him now that the quest is over."

Toriel asks, "How long have you been back? I'm assuming that you're referring to the same quest that all these people were on..."

Nico blinks, "Oh, no, not really. We got back the day before I first fell down here. I've fallen asleep around three times since then, but I'm not sure how long it's actually been. I used up a lot of magic, I almost faded into shadows at some point."

Toriel looks alarmed, but Nico waves her off, completely unworried, "Don't make that face, I'm fine now. Solace stuffed some Ambrosia down my throat once he got a moment and rushed me off to bed. I've slept enough not to fade away, but using my powers sounds like a bad idea right now. At least, not until I get another couple full nights of rest."

The stiffness in his legs reminds him of how long he's been talking, and he feels a wave of embarrassment. He scratches the back of his head sheepishly.

"I've been talking about a lot of random stuff for a few hours now, haven't I?"

Toriel laughs again and nods, "Yes, but I don't mind, my child. You strike me as someone who needs to talk more than they normally do."

Nico feels the barest hints of a blush dust his cheeks, "Should I keep going then?"

Toriel nods, another warm smile painting her face, "If you would."

Nico smiles softly again, he seems to be doing a lot of that around this kind monster.

"Well, other than Hazel and Jason, there's one other person I feel like is close enough to me to be considered family. That's the roman praetor Reyna. She went with me and the satyr, coach Hedge, to take this gigantic statue of Athena back to Camp Half Blood from Greece. Note that that was literally halfway around the world at the time. Also the only form of transportation we had at the time was one of my powers, called shadow travel. It's pretty much exactly what it sounds like, I use shadows to sort of teleport. The only reason I had enough strength to keep jumping from place to place with that much cargo is because Reyna was using one of her powers. She's a daughter of Bellona, one of the few roman gods that doesn't have a greek equivalent. She can lend her strength and feelings to others, which is super useful as a leader. She could use it to inspire a crowd or take away the panic of her army. She only uses it in emergencies, though, most of her amazing leadership skills are all her own, not a gift from her mother. One reason is whenever she uses it, it's like a two way thing. She gives them some of her strength and feelings, and they give her some of their's. She's maybe the only person in the world that really understands what I'm feeling, and vice versa."

Toriel smiles at him again, nodding in understanding. "You sound like really good friends," her grin suddenly turn mischievous, "but there's one kind of relationship I've yet to hear about from you."

Nico understands what she's implying, and the tips of his ears turn a bit pink. He hides his face in his hands, and groans.

"Why do you want to know about that?" he says.

"Because I'm a nosey old lady who worries too much," she nods, like that's the best reason in the world for wanting to know about his love life.

"Fine, but only a little bit."

Toriel cheers, and Nico rolls his eyes, an exasperated smile on his face.

"Do you remember me mentioning a Solace?"

Torial nods, and leans forward, all of her attention solely focused on him.

"Well, his first name is Will, he's a son of Apollo, god of the sun. I only really met him a couple days ago, but I swear whenever he smiles, it... it's like I can't breath and an explosion of butterflies erupts in my stomach."

Nico crosses his arms and closes his eyes, nodding slightly. He wasn't going to say anymore than that. He cracks one eye open when Toriel makes a small squeal noise. She's sitting up really straight, leaning away from the back of her chair. She hands are bunched together and hiding her mouth, but he can see she's smiling. She starts bouncing a bit in place, and Nico laughs quietly.

Toriel asks, "Do you think he likes you back?"

Nico shrugs, "I haven't known him very long, remember? I think he at least wants to get to know me, or make sure I'm healthy or something. He was pretty insistent on me getting three day of solid rest when he saw my foot fall through the ground. He's one of the reasons why I want to get back quickly. Percy and Jason played a prank on me, I was sleeping and they flipped my mattress. I panicked and shadow traveled without a destination in mind. Whenever I do that, I end up in a random place. This time I appeared above a mountain, and fell down here. So, if I don't contact them or find a way home quickly..."

Toriel finishes for him, "They might think you disappeared for good this time."

Nico nods, a worried from on his face. There's a lull in the conversation, then Nico speaks again.

"I tried to shadow travel back up before you found me. I had fallen asleep almost as soon and I first landed, and when I woke up, I felt well enough to at least get myself onto the mountain side. When I tried... I _hit_ something. How can you run into something when you don't have a physical form?" he asks.

Toriel sighs, and places a paw to her chin.

"You must have hit the barrier. I guess this is a good place to start my story. Did you have anything more you wanted to tell me?"

Nico felt like he'd said enough about the past today, maybe he'd tell her more another time, but for now he shakes his head.

"All right then. Well, I guess I should start with why the monsters are down here. A long time ago, the monsters and the humans both lived on the surface, but it could not last. The humans, with souls so powerful that they would last after death, were afraid of the monsters. Because the monsters could absorb their souls, and gain amazing strength from doing so. There was a war, and the humans won. They drove all of the monsters under a Mount Ebbott, and put a seal around the cavern so living things could only go in, not out. It would take the power of one human and one monster soul to go through the barrier, and seven human souls to break it. You could take all the monster souls in all of the underground and only have the power of one human soul. I think I might actually have a book with more details, over on the shelf behind you, if you're interested."

Nico nods, storing the idea away for later, when he could take as much time as he needed.

"Next I should probably tell you my status. I'm the queen of the monsters in the underground."

Nico raises his eyebrows, but the rest of his face stays neutral.

"This is actually the royal crest on my dress, it's called the Delta Rune. But that's besides the point, why would a queen hide away from her people?"

Nico shrugs, waiting for Toriel to explain.

"Because she was disgusted with the choices of her king. Before I hid away, before these were ruins, I lived happily with my husband, Asgore, and my son, Asriel. One day, Asriel went out to where I found you to play. He came back with a human child, a little younger than you are now. Their name was Chara. They where hurt from the fall, but we healed them. They became fast friends with Asriel, and soon we adopted them. We were happy."

Nico whispers, "I'm sensing a 'but'."

Toriel nods, then says, "One day, Chara fell very ill. We couldn't figure out what was wrong, we'd heal them with magic, and they'd get a bit better. The next day, they would be worse than before. They died, and the entire kingdom wept. Their dying wish was to see the golden flowers that grew in their village, back on the surface. Asriel absorbed their soul, and with that power, went through the barrier with Chara's body. When he came back, he was covered in wounds and blood. He died in the garden, and golden flowers have bloomed there ever since. That was in the new castle, where Asgore undoubtedly lives."

Toriel had started crying at some point in her story, and once she is finished talking, Nico stands and walks over to her chair.

"I'm sorry," he says, "I lost my mom when I was very young. Any memories I had of her were wiped by my dad. I guess he thought it would be easier for Bianca and I that way. That doesn't really compare to losing two kids in one night, but I probably understand better than most."

Toriel's tears slow a little, and she gently pulled him into a hug.

"Thank you, Nico. I will do my best to help you get out of here. The ruins start to feel small once you get used to them, it wouldn't be fair to try to keep you here, even if you can't find a way to leave."

Nico buries his face into her warm and soft shoulder. He didn't know how he would do it, but he would make it out of the Underground. At the very least, he would find a way to get word out that he was alive and well.

Just like when he met Napstablook, Nico felt a swell of determination.


	4. Chapter 4

**You guys are the coolest, by the way. Thanks for so many reviews, follows and favorites!**

Nico gets an idea on how to contact the surface the next day. He runs into the kitchen to tell Toriel his idea, his tiny spider friend clinging to his hood so it doesn't fall off. He slides up to her, seeing as the kitchen floor is a wonderfully smooth tile and he hasn't bothered with shoes.

"Tori! I was thinking about camp last night, and started thinking about how there isn't anyone at camp to give food offerings to my dad!"

Toriel pauses in her work on chopping vegetables to look at him.

"Okay, my child, but why are you so excited about it?"

Nico hops lightly on the balls of his feet, "It reminded me that I can burn anything and it'll go to whichever god or goddess I pray to! It'll appear on their alter. So I could burn a note and send it off to my dad, Mr. D, Hermies, Iris, or even Hestia and they could get word to camp!"

Nico's beaming, so excited he can't stand still. It makes Toriel happy to see him acting more like a fourteen year old boy should.

"That's wonderful Nico! What do you need to get your message out?"

"Some paper, a pen or pencil, and an open flame. I'm not sure if the fireplace will work, seeing as it's not particularly _hot_."

"Do not worry about that part, I have a way for you to burn it. In my room, there's a notebook and a pen sitting on my desk, feel free to use blank pages out of that."

Nico nods and runs off down the hall and Toriel goes back to her cooking. He slows down as he reaches Toriel's room, and opens it carefully. He looks around, and spots her desk close to the door. He's about to close the notebook when he sees an entry circled in red. His spider friend crawls down his arm, stopping on his hand so he can look at it too.

He reads it aloud, "Why did the skeleton want a friend? Because she was feeling bonely..." Nico goes silent for a moment as what he's read sinks in, then his face cracks in two, and a tiny giggle escapes, "That's possibly the worst pun I've ever read."

Still smiling, he scoops up the book of puns and a nearby pen as his small friend climbs back to the warmth of his collar. He jogs back to the dinner table, and opens the book again. He flips through the pages, reading the occasional pun as he goes. He finally finds a blank page, and tears it out neatly. He pauses for a moment, trying to decide who he wants to write first. He settles on his dad, seeing as that was probably the best way to avoid any unnecessary anger. If your kid goes missing, you expect to be the first person they get in contact with. So he starts writing out a quick letter to his dad.

It read, "Hey, Dad. I know I kinda disappeared again, so I figured the first person I should write should be you, so you don't worry or something. I'm in this place called the Underground, no relation to the Underworld. I'm fine, and safe. I'm staying with this nice goat monster lady named Toriel. She's going to try and help me get out. I tried shadow traveling back the way I came, but I hit this thing Toriel calls the barrier. I guess it blocks signals, magic, and souls. Makes it hard to leave or get a message out. I'm going to do my best to keep you and the people at camp updated, but it might get a bit sporadic if I can't find anywhere to burn the paper."

Nico pauses for a moment, trying to think of what else to say, then he writes, "Sorry I haven't been able to send you any offerings. Toriel's butterscotch cinnamon pie is delicious, I'll send you a piece with this note. Hopefully it'll make up for it? I have a lot to tell you about, once I get out of here of course."

He ends it there, and signs the bottom. He rips out a second page and writes a note to Mr. D next, asking him to please let the camp know he was okay and would be back soon. He planned to send him a piece of pie as payment as well. He sets the notes aside, then walks back to the kitchen. Toriel has finished chopping vegetables, and is washing off the cutting board in the sink.

"Toriel?" he asks

"Yes, my child?" she replies.

"Could I send off a couple pieces of pie too?"

She turns and smiles.

"Of course, my child, I'll cut two pieces for you. Have you finished writing?" she says.

Nico nods. Toriel dries her hands and gets a clean knife out. She neatly cuts two slices of pie, and carries them into the table.

Nico asks, "So how are you going to burn them?"

"I have fire magic, will that work?" she replies.

Nico's eyebrows raise, but he nods his head. He places his notes on the pie slices.

"I don't see why not. Let's do the one in your right hand first, that's the one to my dad. I'll point to you when you should burn it, okay?"

Toriel nods, and Nico gives his normal prayer to his father. Once he finishes, he looks up and points to her hand. The pie and the note are gone in a instant, and a beautiful smell fills the air. Nico smiles, it worked.

"Okay, now the next one." he says.

He says a similar and equally brief prayer to Mr. D, then signals Toriel to burn the pie. With both pies sent off, Nico feels a weight lifted off his shoulders. A lot of stress gone from the relief of letting people know he was safe. He wasn't exactly sure if Mr. D would tell everyone for the price of a piece of pie, but it wasn't like the gods could send it back to him the way it came. He'd just have to hope that he would deliver the message. Nico makes a mental note to send a few more sacrifices to the camp director when he got the chance.

"I'm assuming it worked, my child?" Toriel asks.

"Yeah, thanks for the help, Toriel. I think I need to start getting all my stuff together for my trip. Is that okay? Or do you need help with dinner?" Nico replies.

"No, I'll be fine. Let me know if you think of anything you might need that you don't have, all right my child?"

Nico smiles and nods. He and his small passenger go back to his temporary room. He'd taken all the things he'd collected out of his jacket pockets and left them against the wall opposite his bed the night before. He starts reorganizing them now. If he kept finding things at this rate, he'd have to buy a bag or something to keep all his stuff in. It'd also be nice to keep his blanket from camp in, seeing as he might have to sleep in some uncomfortable places. A blanket would make things just a little bit more comfortable, and it smelled like home, so he wouldn't be leaving it behind. Nico finishes ordering his few items, and has a mental list of things he will probably need and doesn't have when Toriel calls him to dinner. He leaves the rest for later, and walks to dining area with his tiny friend hopping excitedly on his shoulder. He wasn't sure why the tiny spider like hanging around him so much, but it was nice company, so Nico wasn't complaining.

Toriel sets a steaming piece of snail pie on his plate, and a smaller slice for the spider. Nico is surprised to find that he likes it. The strangest thing about it is the texture, but other than that, it tastes like regular pot pie. He insists on washing the dishes, and Toriel insists she at least do the drying. Once everything is clean and put away, Nico turns to Toriel.

Nico asks, "Do you think you could come look over my stuff? I have a few things I think I'll need, but I'd feel better if you gave me your thoughts on it too."

She replies, "Of course, my child. What are you planning on taking?"

Nico replies as they walk down the hall.

"I have a donut and a jug of cider from the spider bake sale, a ribbon I found on the way here, and my blanket that I fell down here with. I think all I really need is a backpack, and maybe some more food. Oh, and maybe something to start a fire with? Then maybe I could sent stuff home with some consistency."

Toriel nods, and replies as she opens the door to his temporary room.

"Maybe you should take a pillow and some gloves too. It can get very cold in the area right outside the ruins. I'll see what I can do about the fire, so don't worry about that. Oh! Is your spider friend going to go with you?"

Nico turns his head to see his tiny friend's reaction. It's jumping up and down happily again. Nico smiles.

"I'll take that to mean you're excited to go?"

It nods, and Nico giggles quietly when it nestles down decidedly.

Toriel says, "I'll be sure to pick up a few things for them as well then. Do you want to come shopping with me? Then we can make sure everything is in order and will work for you."

Nico nods, and starts picking up all his things again. Toriel picks up his carefully folded blanket, and drapes it over her arm.

"Ready?" she asks.

"Yeah, let's go. Where are we going to buy this stuff anyway?"

Toriel leads the way back to the front door.

"There's a way to the capital back this way. There are a few store I'm a regular at, and they won't say anything about my company. They've never done so before, anyway. Come along, they will all be closing in about two hours, so we have to be fast."

Nico matches Toriel's long strides as she leads them around a corner to the left, away from the pathway Nico is familiar with. Toriel is quick and sure with the turns she makes as they walk down the twisting streets. Nico would have quickly become lost if she wasn't there leading the way. There first stop is to a store with shelves of tiny clothing. Toriel waves to the strange hedgehog looking monster behind the counter, then leads Nico to one of the shelves. There's a sign hanging from one of them, and Nico has to stifle a laugh when he reads it. Instead of giving a number for size, it simple says, "teeny." His spider friend was that, so he guesses that the clothes should fit. They found a subsection for eight legged monsters, and the spider climbed up onto his head to get a better look at the clothing. Toriel starts handing tiny sweaters to the spider, seemingly at random. His tiny friend was probably pointing to the ones he wanted to get a closer look at. Most of the sweaters were handed back to Toriel to be put back on the shelf, but a couple where waved down in front of his face. Nico carefully took these ones, and looked them over carefully. Nico's favorite of the bunch was a dark blue one, with teeny tiny snowflake patterns. They ended up buying four tiny sweaters, a tinsey hat and scarf, and the smallest set of boots Nico had ever seen.

They pay for the clothes and stash the tiny plastic bags in Nico's coat, then make their way to another section of the store. Here, the shelves are displaying small blankets and pillows and similar bedding. Nico spots a fluffy cushion made of fabric similar to his collar. He picks it up and holds it at eye level for his spider friend. He can feel it making it's was down from his head, it's steps hurried and excited. It goes zipping down his arm, and onto the fluffy cushion. It's a good size for them, big enough to stretch out on, but not so large that Nico wouldn't be able to spot it sleeping. Toriel giggles at the spider's antics as it snuggles down firmly on it's new bed. Nico holds it steady carefully, and they make there way to the shelves full of blankets. They find a bunch that are sewn into a pouch, and Nico slips a warm looking one onto the cushion. It's a little big, but his spider seems happy with it, so they buy them both and head back out onto the street.

They wander through the streets a bit longer than Nico expected they'd have to, but they soon reach a store advertising backpacks and other bags. Nico finds one he likes almost as soon as they walk into the store. It's made of lightweight and sturdy looking black leather. It looks to be a good size, definitely enough room for his current stuff. He turns to Toriel, who looks surprised at his quick decision. He rubs the back of his neck and laughs sheepishly. She leads him to the checkout counter, giggling softly. After seeing how pricey the bag is, Nico insistantly gives Toriel half of his remaining drachmas. She seems hesitant at first, but once he points out the fact that she's already done so much for him and his friend, she's more willing. They walk to a store selling clothes that match human body shapes, and Toriel fusses with warm mittens and scarves and hats for a good twenty minutes. Nico just smiles fondly and rolls his eyes every once in awhile when he's feeling particularly exasperated. With their arms loaded with bags, they make their way back to the ruins. They walk a lot slower than they did on the way here, and they chat quietly the whole way.

"So what's with the puns?" Nico asks.

Toriel blushes a little, but smiles.

"I've always been fond of making puns, even before I moved to the ruins. I only started writing them down recently though," she replies

"Oh? Why the change?"

"One day, I was sitting downstairs, my back to the door leading to the rest of the underground. I was feeling especially lonely, and sad. But then, someone knocked on the door, and said, 'Knock, knock.'" Toriel deepens her voice, mimicking a man's, "Naturally, I replied, 'Who is there?' 'Dishes.' 'Dishes who?' 'Dishes a very bad joke.'"

Toriel giggles, and Nico laughs quietly with her.

Toriel continues, "It'd been a very long time since I had someone to tell jokes with, and I really needed to laugh. He kept telling jokes, and I kept laughing. Once i managed to catch my breath, I told him one. It's become a regular thing, so I write down some so I don't run out of material."

Toriel is smiling brightly, and Nico finds it contagious.

"I'm glad you have someone to talk to," Nico pauses, when a thought occurs to him, "Hey, wait, if this is the door to the rest of the Underground, do you think I'll meet him?"

Toriel nods, "Yes, I think it is very likely. Anyway, come along, my child. It's getting late, and you'll need your rest so you can use your powers again. You'll need them if you're going to make it safely through the Underground."

Nico gets the feeling that Toriel doesn't want to talk more about the door, or the trip. He doesn't mind, so he lets her change the topic. He wants them both to be able to enjoy the time they have left together. They talk the walk home away, and Nico packs his new bag neatly. His spider friend slept the whole way on its new bed, so Nico sets it carefully on the table, next to the lamp. He snuggles into the warm quilt on his bed, but even after walking around all day, Nico can't seem to fall asleep. After tossing and turning for what he guesses is an hour, he quietly walks back into the bookshelf by the fire. If he can't sleep, he might as well read for a bit.

He pauses in the doorway, Toriel is still up, sitting in her usual spot in her armchair. She's looking into the fire, a serious and sad look on her face. Nico hesitates, then quietly walks to her side.

"Toriel? Are you alright?" he whispers.

She jumps a little, then turns to face him.

"What? Oh, what are you still doing up, my child?"

Nico's brow furrows at the deflection, and he crosses his arms, waiting for an answer. Toriel sighs.

"I am fine. I was just thinking about the other children that have been in my care. I've taken care of eight other than you. Only one of then was my own, the rest where human children that had fallen much like yourself. Other than being a godly descendant of course. I loved them all."

Nico sits down on the floor next to her legs. He wants to know what happened to them, because she would sound so sad if they were still around, but he's already got an idea. If she wants to keep talking, she can, he will listen. He won't force her, though. He hates it when his friends make him feel obligated to tell them his problems.

"The first was adopted into our family, before Asgore and I split. Their name was Chara. One day, they became sick. We tried everything, and at times it seemed like it was working. But the next day, we would wake to find their condition had become even worse. They soon died. Asriel, my son, absorbed their soul to fulfill his sibling's dying wish. They wanted to see the golden flowers that grew in their village, one last time. Asriel came back covered in wounds, still holding Chara's body. He turned to dust in my arms."

Fat tears are rolling down Toriel's face, now. Nico reaches up, and pats her knee, leaning on her to try and give her some comfort.

"Asgore, in his anger and grief, made a new law. It stated that all humans that fall into the underground are to be killed for their souls. It would take seven to break the barrier." Toriel's voice suddenly turns cold. "But he's a coward. With one soul, he could go through the barrier like Asriel had, collect six more souls, then break the barrier. Instead he waits here, hoping that another human won't fall so he won't have to kill another. He gives the people hope for freedom when he could have given it to them years ago."

There's a moment of silence while Nico makes sure Toriel is finished.

"Could you tell me about the others?"

Toriel looks surprised, but she nods.

"The second child, the first to fall while I was living here on my own, was a small girl. She always wore this ribbon in her hair, and it look so cute! No one in the ruins wanted to hurt her for it. She was so small and was always patient with the monsters she spent time with. She fancied herself a scary rogue thief, and always carried around a toy knife to practice with. She never hurt anyone, though."

Nico smiles, his idea to get her to remember what they were like was working. He did this a lot by himself, whenever he found himself missing Bianca.

"She sounds nice. What about the others?"

Toriel and Nico end up talking about her children for a good two hours. He learned about a young boy with the heart of a lion, who always wore gloves and a bandana, because he thought it made him look tough. He learned of a preteen, with glossy black hair slicked into a tight bun. Her morals were high, and her ballerina outfit elegant. Of the small indian girl with glasses and a worn notebook, who wrote down everything she felt like she needed to remember so she couldn't forget like she would everything else. Of the older boy with an apron and frying pan, that would give food to whoever they met with a happy smile. And lastly, of the rambunctious little boy with a cowboy obsession, who would 'shoot' anyone who wasn't being fair. Toriel had told him their names, but he doesn't bother to remember them. As horrible as it sounds, it's not like he'd run into them later, right?

After Toriel had finished her stories, and her tears had dried, Nico stands and pulls her to her feet. They walk back to their respective rooms, both ready for sleep after their emotionally draining talk.

The next morning, Nico wanders out to the kitchen, sleepy spider sitting on his shoulder. Torie's already up, and a delicious smell from what he assumes is breakfast is flowing down the hall. He smiles when Toriel turns to look at him, and she smiles back, but the sad look in her eyes makes the grin fall from Nico's face. He walks forward, and places a hand on her arm. She pulls him into a hug, and Nico can hear quiet sobs. He rubs soft circles on her back, and soon she's standing upright again.

"I am sorry, my child. I wanted this to be a happy day, especially after all we talked about last night. But I am afraid I have grown to care for you much more than I though."

Nico shakes his head, "Please don't ever feel sorry for something like that. Can I ask you something?"

Toriel nods her head as she wipes her face with the back of her hand.

"If it doesn't work out, if I can't find a way to go through the barrier, can I come back and live here?"

Toriel looks surprised, but she quickly recovers, and smiles happily.

"Of course, my child! I'd be happy to have you."

Nico grins. He hopes he can make it out and back to his friends at camp, but living here would be a good backup plan in case it doesn't work out. He sets the table for Toriel, then helps carry in all the food she's made. They eat breakfast together, chatting aimlessly. Once the food is eaten, and the dishes washed and put away, Nico walks down the hall to his room. His spider friend crawls up to its usual spot on his jacket collar, dressed and ready in the clothes they bought the day before. Nico follows his small friend's lead, and wraps himself up in the warm accessories Toriel got him. He packs away the fuzzy cushion the spider slept on last night, then slings his backpack over his shoulder. When he walks back into the dining-sitting room, Toriel is waiting for him, holding something behind her back.

Toriel says, "It took me a few tries, but I managed to make something that should let you burn your offerings whenever you need to."

She reveals her surprise, a blue tinted glass mason jar with a wire mechanism holding the glass top in place, with a small fire burning happily inside. Nico steps forward curiously, there wasn't anything for the fire to burn in the jar AND the lid was shut tight. By all means, that fire should be out by now. Yet there it was, flickering cheerfully. The only explanation Nico can think of is, of course, that it's a magic fire and probably doesn't work the same as the fires he's used to. He reaches out, and Toriel hands it to him. The jar is warm, but not burning hot. He could burn offerings with every meal, with this. It'd make a good hand warmer, too. He smiles at Toriel.

"Thank you, this is really amazing. No way am I getting cold with this and all the clothes you bought me."

Toriel laughs, "That's true. Though I will probably still worry while you're gone, my child. It is in my nature, after all."

Nico snickers quietly, "Yeah, you're a real _mom_ ster."

Toriel cackles, then says, "That was very good, I think I've rubbed off on you. Is it all right if I call and check up on you every once in awhile? Maybe not everyday, but often enough for me to know where you are?"

Nico nods. Toriel smiles sadly, and pulls him into another hug.

"Do you have everything you need, my child? Did you remember the extra slice of pie?" she asks.

"Yes, and yes. Thank you again, Tori. For everything. I'll be sure to call you when I get the time too. Don't think too much on it if I don't pick up, I might be busy or I might nor hear it. Or better yet, it might be dead. The point is, I'm not ignoring you, and probably not hurt. I'm good at dodging and running for my life, so the likelyhood of that is pretty slim."

Nico gives Toriel his best, 'Don't worry, I've got this.' Smile. It only kind of works. Toriel still has a small worried crease between her eyebrows, but she smiles back. She ruffles his hair, then waves him forward as she makes her way to the stairway leading to the basement. Nico looks around curiously at the sudden change in atmosphere. Upstairs was cheerful and homey, but the basement was cold and a feeling a dread hung in the air. Toriel offers him a hand. Under different circumstances, he would probably be against the hand holding, but it might be the last time he sees her. They go around a corner and reach a door. Toriel stops, and turns to face Nico. They're silent for a moment, and Nico thinks he hasn't see Toriel make such a grave face before. EVen when she was explaining about her children, she looked more sad. Now it was like she had put on a stone mask, mentally preparing herself for the very worst.

"I'm sorry my child, but I don't think I can bare to take you any farther than this. It's a straight hallway after this door, then the door that leads to the forests near Snowdin."

Nico nods, matching her serious tone. He hugs her, and she pets down his hair. She pulls away, and goes back down the hallway. Nico watches her go, and waves sadly when she looks back. He pushes open the door, and just as Toriel said, there's an extremely long hallway. He pushes his sadder emotions down, and starts down in. He can talk to Toriel later, this isn't really goodbye. He stops walking as he realizes the connotations of what he's he's thinking. He wants to break the barrier, that's what not saying goodbye to Toriel no matter what means, right? That even if he finds a way to leave, he's bringing at least Toriel and maybe Napstablook if he wants to come. He's surprised at himself when he finds that his heart lifting. He smiles, and laughs. Yeah, there's no way he's going to leave his new friends down here to rot.

The thoughts of finding a way to save his friends fills him with a new wave of determination to move forward.

 **AAAaaaayyye, thanks for all the favorites, follows, and reviews! You guys know who you are, I've read them all, and they made me smile :3 I'll try to get back to those of you who have specific questions, but I'm trying not to spoil anything that's going to be revealed in the story. Thanks again!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Ehehehe, I have like 3/4 of another chapter written that I got stuck on. It's not that I don't know where I want to go with it, it's that I had the chapter finished and my browser crashed before I could save ;-; I'm just working up the motivation to do it all again. But thank you all for your patience and kind words and follows and favorites :3 I'll have a proper chapter with Nico out soon :D**

Jason stares at the floor for a second, then looks up with wide eyes at his partner in crime. Percy mirrors his movements and expression. They stand there for a second, and Jason can see the gears turning in Percy's head as he begins thinking the same things Jason is.

Nico had just shadow traveled because they scared him. Nico had almost faded into shadows himself the last time he did that. Will Solace had put him under strict orders not to shadow travel until Will gave the okay on his health. Will was going to kill all three of them when he found out. _Unless_ one of them told him quickly. As in, sprinting to tell him what just happened quickly. Whoever told him first might be spared to the point of being able to keep their life.

In a mad scramble, both boys dash for the door. Percy somehow makes it out first, but Jason makes up for it by flying over his head. Percy squawks something about him cheating, but Jason just smiles smugly and waves as he spots Will sitting with a few of his siblings at the Apollo table, eating breakfast. He steels himself as he lands by the Pavilion, He walks up behind Will, and one of his sisters points Jason out to him as he comes to a stop. Will turns, a piece of bacon in his hand, and looks at Jason expectantly.

"Will. I'm sorry, Percy and I went to wake up Nico this morning so he could get some food. We made a bad decision and scared him by flipping his mattress over. He must have panicked or went with a gut instinct, because he shadow traveled."

Will's face goes slack, and he stands, dropping his bacon on his plate before turning back to face him. All the normal sunshine that seemed to reflect off of his skin and eyes seems to have gone into reverse. Jason swallows nervously when he meets the shorter boy's eyes. He is glaring, and his eyelids cast a shadow to block out the lights in his eyes, giving him an extra menacing air.

"Where is Jackson now, then?" he asks.

Jason points over his shoulder and he replies.

"We both ran to tell you, but I can fly faster than he can run."

"Right, both of you follow me, we have to tell Chiron. _Then_ you can both explain to me, in detail, what you've done and why you did it."

Jason nods. He thinks to himself that this memory will be one of two things later in life. Either it will be a hilarious reaction story he'll tell to his friends when they exchange stories about the times when they were younger, or it will become a painful scar on his heart that he'll think about whenever he thinks about his lost friend. He shakes it off for now, Will is right, they need to talk to Chiron.

* * *

Chiron had his fingers steepled in front of his mouth, he had a worried crease between his brows, and he was giving off such a strong air of disapproval Jason was beginning to wonder if he was trying to crush everyone in the room with it. Chiron finally speaks.

"So, Nico Di Angelo is currently stuck somewhere. It could be anywhere in the world, and he could take days to get back if he's smart enough not to push himself and travel straight back. The worse case senario is that he is currently fading into shadows and there is absolutely nothing we can do. Is that what you are telling me?"

The trio nod, grim lines on their faces. Will speaks up.

"We can send out search parties, see if it was somewhere nearby. Though, as _Percy_ so kindly put it, he's accidentally traveled to China before. He could be anywhere."

A thought strikes Jason, and it's out of his mouth before he can really think it through.

"What are we going to tell Hades?"

Everyone turns to look at him, and the emotions flashing across their faces lets him know that they've followed along the same lines that he has. He continues anyway.

"I know he keeps an eye on him, when he can. He will notice. We need to tell him as soon as we can, but what can we say? 'Oh, yeah, the sons of Jupiter and Poseidon? You know, the two that you kind of hate? Yeah they _lost your son_. They feel really bad about it though, and they're working on a plan to find him. There isn't really a way to even know if he's even alive, though, seeing as turning to shadows might not let his _soul come through your corts_.'"

Something wet hits his hands, and Jason realises he's crying. He rubs the tears away, they're not going to help Nico. The fight leaves him when he looks as Percy. He looks like he's finally really feeling the situation now that Jason said his peace. He's staring, eyes wide and unseeing, at his hands. An idea snaps into place in his head, and he reaches out to put a hand on Percy's shoulder. His friend looks up at his touch.

"What if we take a quest to go into the underworld to tell Hades in person? We can Iris message him in advance to make sure we're okay to go in on Mrs. O'leary, then we can tell him what happened and ask permission to lead search missions for him. He can see that we regret it, and that we'll do everything in our power to fix it."

A light of understanding and hope and determination flickers through Percy's eyes, and Jason turns to Will and Chiron.

"Chiron, requesting permission to lead this quest?"

"If Hades knows one thing, it's that you boys are all friends. At the very least, he's grateful to you for that. The faster you get to this, the more luck you'll have. Go now, I'll explain the situation to Mr. D."

Jason nods, then turns to Will.

"Just so we're clear, you're coming with us, right?"

"Like I'd let you two blunder heads out of my sight after this stunt."

His words are harsh, but his voice is closer to it's usually teasing tone. Jason gives him a small smile, and they rush towards Cabin 3 to make their IM to Hades.

Percy already had a coin out of his pocket and ready to flip into a rainbow when they made it to the little fountain at the back of Percy's cabin. Jason puts his hand on Percy's shoulder before he does, and turns to Will.

"Who wants to ask permission to visit the Underworld? Based on Percy's lack of tack, I think it should either be me or you, Will."

Percy looks like he's about to protest, but Jason glances at him and points out the obvious.

"Percy, what happened the last time you visited Hades?"

Percy opens his mouth, stops, then sighs.

"Yeah, okay. I vote for Will, though."

Jason nods in agreement.

"Yeah, me too. But only if you want to, Will."

Will looks surprised, but takes the coin from Percy.

"Why?"

Jason shrugs.

"As far as I know, you haven't talked to him before. You've saved a lot of lives, and from what I've heard, Hades has been dealing with a overcrowding problem of sorts. Plus I'm pretty sure Nico means something a little different to you than he does to Percy and I."

Will's eyebrows rise, and his arms drop to his sides.

"What do you mean? You guys have been friends with his a lot longer than I have, and besides," his eyes drop to the coin in his hands, "you've both been through a lot more with him, too."

Jason chuckles, and puts a hand on Will's shoulder, causing the younger boy to look up.

"Yeah, we're Nico's friends. All the way, wherever and whenever he needs us. But we were both kind of forced upon him. He was put into situations where he had to stick around us, so we grew on him. You, on the other hand, managed to become his friend in a few _hours_ , and in a place full of other people and places he could escape to. He stuck around and got to know you anyway." He glances at Percy, "We got back, what, two days ago?"

Percy nods and adds his two cents.

"I've watch Nico curl in on himself after his sister died. I haven't seen him this happy and open around anyone since then."

"Really?"

Percy and Jason both nod, and Will's eyes hardened with determination as he turns to the fountain.

"Oh Iris, goddess of the Rainbow, please accept my offering. Show me Lord Hades."

He tosses in the coin, and they wait with baited breath. Soon, the image of Hades, talking quietly to one of the furies. Will takes a calming breath, and get's the god's attention.

"Lord Hades? If you have a moment?"

He glances over, and quickly dismisses the furie with a wave of his hand. He walks over with long strides, his strange cloak of faces shimmering sinisterly, even in the full color spectrum of the IM. There's an unmistakable streak of worry in the god's eyes.

"I assume you have some sort of news on Nico? I was just told that he's disappeared."

Will nods.

"Kind of, we were going to ask permission to travel to your palace to tell you in person what happened, and what we're going to do about it. Mrs. O'leary can take us, with your permission."

The worry spreads to the God's brow, but he nods.

"Permission granted, thank you for calling ahead, for once."

A glare is aimed at Percy, who rubs his neck with a sheepish smile. Will nods his thanks.

"We'll be there soon."

Hades swipes through the message, and the boys exchange glances before jogging out to the stables to find their resident Hellhound.

* * *

They arrived at Hades' doorstep a few minutes later, and jogged their way through security and to Hades' throne room. The god was pacing the floor when they got there, and turns to face them quickly when they stride forward. They form a loose triangle, with Will closest to the god, Jason behind him and to the right, Percy to the left. Will took the lead on talking again.

"Thanks again for letting us come on such short notice. You know about how Nico almost lost his physical form from shadow traveling the Athena Parthenos to Camp Half Blood, right?" Hades nods, "I'm the head healer at camp, and I told him not to shadow travel until I gave the okay, to make sure it wouldn't happen again. Well, this morning, Percy and Jason went to wake him up, and he was startled enough that he shadow traveled before he was fully awake, from what these two have told me."

A flash of anger crosses Hades' face before it disappears back under the worry.

"That's the first thing you wanted to tell me. I hope the second half is better than the first."

Will nods and continues.

"We're going to head up the search parties for him, with your permission. Nico could be anywhere, and he won't be able to shadow travel for a while. He'll need help, and we plan on finding him so we can give it to him. We'll message you as soon as we find him, or if we find anything solid on where he is."

Hades crosses his arms, and looks at the ceiling in thought. After a moment, he nods.

"You have my permission, and my blessing, but on one condition. You," he points to Will, "will stay at camp at all times. If he manages to find to strength to travel back to camp, you need to be there to give him what he needs to be back on track to recovery. I'll be sending out small search parties of my own for out of the country, I'll leave the rest to you."

The three nod in agreement, and Hades gestures for them to follow. They do, and he leads them up to his throne. Next to it is a side table covered in fresh fruits. He grabs a perfect looking pomegranate and hands it to Will.

"I trust you all know not to eat this?"

They nod, dumbstruck.

"Nico will be able to eat this along with ambrosia and nectar to accelerate his healing. Please keep it on you at all times, and don't let anyone else eat it, unless you want them to be stuck here forever."

With that, he turns them back to the door, and they move to take their leave. Percy stops halfway to the door, and turns back to face Hades again.

"I'm sorry. It was my idea to scare him awake. I didn't think about it, I just thought it would be a light hearted joke, between friends who weren't at war with an immortal. I know we haven't had the smoothest of meetings, I know you hate me and why, but Nico is my friend. I will do everything in my power to make sure he makes it back safe."

Hades' glare softens a degree, and he shoos him out the door. Just before he closes it, he replies.

"That is enough for me, son of Poseidon. Though fear my wrath if that turns out to be a lie."

* * *

They arrive back at camp, and the three quickly start making groups of three to start searching for the wayward demigod. They're all out, with maps of the areas they're supposed to cover, before the sun sets. Will sits by himself, slightly frustrated that he needs to sit it out, yet he finds himself agree with Hades. If Nico made it back, he had to be ready to help. If the others find him, they'll be able to get him back here faster than hunting him down while he's out searching for him. He looks down at the softball sized fruit in his lap. He takes a deep breath, and lets it out in a sigh.

The thought of finding his friend fills him with **determination**.


	6. Chapter 6

**Quick note about the last chapter, a guest asked what happened to Nico's offering notes. Well, my dear anon, all that craziness in the last chapter happened in one day, and Nico was asleep for all of it! If you look at the first few chapters, you'll see that it was at least two days before Nico thought to send the notes :3 so to put it simply, they hadn't been sent yet. I hadn't actually planned on ever doing a pov of the people back at camp, but** **bags-of-nope777 asked if I was going to write a chapter with them, and I was being unmotivated to finish this chapter at that point, so I kind of just went "Why not? It'll be a good break." So it doesn't really fit with what my plan was before and is back in time a bit. If I do another chapter with the three of them, I'll be sure to catch them up to speed so it's less confusing! :D**

Nico walks through the tall doorway without even the beginnings of a thought that something else might be in the dark room. So you can't really blame him for jumping when he hears a voice.

"Clever. Verrrryyy clever."

Nico finally realises it's the flower growing from a patch of grass that's talking.

"You think you're really smart, don't you? In this world, it's... wait just a second, you're not Frisk!"

The cheerful looking flower sounds angry and confused. Nico walks forward, and kneels down in front of the gold flower with a face. Nico tilts his head, something was... well, _wrong_ with the flower. Nico wasn't sure what, not yet, and the only way for him to figure it out is to keep it talking.

"Sorry, who's Frisk?"

The flower's confusion seems to increase, "A... friend. I think. It's been a long time since I saw them last. But this doesn't make sense! If you're here, where's Frisk?"

Nico shakes his head.

"I don't know. I'm sorry, I could keep an eye out for them if you like? What do they look like?"

The flower seems angry at his words, and Nico can't help but wonder what he said wrong.

"NO! That's not how this is supposed to work! You have to hate me, not HELP me!"

"And why not? I helped Toriel-"

The flower cuts him off, "What's that supposed to mean? Toriel's supposed to help YOU, not the other way around!?"

"Well, if you'd let me TALK maybe I could tell you."

Nico waits to see if the flower is going to cut in again, but it seems too shocked at the moment.

"That's better. I couldn't sleep last night, so I went in to read some of her books. I assume you've been in her house, seeing as you seem to know her pretty well. She was just staring in the fire, and she looked so _sad_. So I listened to her talk about her kids, and I promised to come back if getting through the barrier doesn't work. I'm going to do my best to keep in contact with her, so she doesn't have to feel so lonely anymore."

Nico huffs through his nose.

"So if you have a problem, maybe if you'll let me, I can help."

There's a pause, then the finally the flower breaks it with a sigh.

"I don't even know your name."

Nico smiles.

"I'm Nico, it's nice to meet you."

The flower nods, "Likewise. I'm Flowey, Flowey the flower. My friend, Frisk, is a human like you are, but I don't think they're in the underground anymore if you're here."

"What do you mean, Flowey? Did something happen to them?"

The flower nods, sadly. "Yeah. But it's hard to explain, especially because you haven't died yet."

Nico's confusion was obvious.

"You have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?"

"No, sorry. I've had a... well, weird's putting it a bit lightly, but we'll go with that. I've had a weird life so far. So, even if you think I won't understand, can you explain?"

Flowey makes an uninterested face.

"Nah, sounds boring to me. Come find me if you die, I'll try and explain then."

Nico huffs out a laugh. He's about to reply when it finally occurs to him what feels wrong about Flowey. While Nico can't see souls unless they're outside of their body, he can feel them no matter what. It's apart of the whole 'I can literally feel whenever someone dies' thing. But Flowey, Flowey was obviously alive. But his body _felt_ like it was dead. There was no soul in the talking plant before him. And that was odd, to say the least. Nico can't remember a time when he talked to the _empty corpse_ of anything. Yet here Flowey was. What happened to this poor monster, that it was cursed for a sentient life without a soul? He can't even begin to comprehend what it would be like.

"Flowey. This is important, and I can and will explain where this is coming from, but I have to ask first."

Flowey looks mildly concerned, and gives him his full attention. Nico's sure there's some kind of aura around him right now, he can feel the shadows begging him to get away from this husk of a being.

"Why the _Hades_ don't you have a soul?"

The flower seems to wilt under his gaze.

"I-I don't know what you're-"

Nico cuts him off, "Don't give me that crap, I can _feel_ it. You at least had one at some point, right?"

"Of course I did, but, I mean, it's- it's been a while since I lost it, all right? Why? What do you care? I want you to help me find Frisk not worry about my spiritual status!"

"Are you kidding me. Who _wouldn't_ worry about you, if they knew what I know? Screw that."

The flower seems even angrier at this, and suddenly, it's face changes from a generic cartoon face to a creepy jagged smile with sharp eyes.

" **NO.** " Flowey's voice is equally distorted and creepy as his face. "This isn't how this world works, you _idiot_. In this world, it's kill or be killed."

The flower giggles, and Nico feels a chill run up his spine. He glares regardless.

"Wow, you are one creepy flower. I've got to hand it to you, you've got the whole scary voice thing down pat. But there's one thing you've got wrong in all this."

Nico leans forward.

"The world is never so black and white."

The flower's face changes back in surprise.

"What makes you so sure?"

Nico leans back and gives Flowey and honest smile.

"I've been in more than a couple life threatening situations. There have been countless times when I've had to kill to keep the people I care about and myself safe. But there have also been times when I thought I was going in for the fight of my life only to come out with a new ally. And so far, I'm thinking the Underground is the latter. So, Flowey, since I'm a bit of an expert on souls, have a direct relation to the ruler of the afterlife, _and_ I'm trying really hard here to be your friend, would you be willing to tell me how you lost your soul?"

The Flower looks down. Nico's sure he's at the very least considering his offer. When he looks up again, it's in a stubborn line with a crease between the place his eyebrows would be. Nico, in that moment, is sure he's going to say no. But then Flowey sighs and his face relaxes into resignation.

"Fine, but only because you figured out it's missing on your own, not because I want to be friends or something."

Nico snickers under his breath. _If you say so Flowey_. He nods nonetheless, and waits patiently for Flowey to collect his thoughts.

"Okay, first of all, when you said Toriel told you about her children, do you mean _all_ her children?"

"Well, I wouldn't really know if she didn't mention someone, now would I?"

Nico smirks, and Flowey rolls his eyes.

"Fine, where all the children she talked about human?"

Nico tilts his head, what does this have to do with Flowey?

"No, she talked about her biological son, Asriel, too."

Flowey looks mildly surprised.

"Wow, she really trusts you, doesn't she? How long were you there, anyway?"

"Not that long, actually. A few days? I don't really know how long I was asleep for, I was exhausted when she found me. I think she felt like she didn't need to hold back. I'd told her about how my sister died a few years back, so maybe she felt like I would understand?"

Flowey nods.

"Yeah, that's probably it. She's a big softy when she feels like she's trusted."

"What does this have to do with your soul, Flowey?"

The flower looks to the side.

"Well, I wasn't always a flower, and I didn't always go by 'Flowey'."

Nico's surprised by his casual tone. This is a big deal if he's implying what Nico thinks he is.

"Woah, hold the phone, time out." Nico makes a 'T' with his hands. "Are you saying you're Asriel?"

The flower looks back up at him, then nods.

Nico leans backwards on his hands, looking up into the darkness concealing the ceiling. He nibbles on his lip as he thinks. He didn't really know enough about these monsters to know for sure, but he's got a theory.

"Flowey, this is very important, you mentioned dying, like it wouldn't be a big deal. Like I would still be around to talk to. Why?"

Flowey scrunches up his face a little.

"Because you would, I mean, every other human did. If they found themselves in a fight they couldn't win, they'd die, and it's like the world would rewind a few hours or days or even weeks, back to a time when they were still alive. They'd remember what happened, but almost everyone else wouldn't. I always remember, and there's another I think at least remembers some of it. You'll probably meet him soon. Anyway, the humans would have to move forward, back to the time and place that they died, but they would know what's coming this time, and they usually do better. Sometimes they even make it through on the second try. But they all found a fight they couldn't figure out how to win. Most of them found it in Asgore's castle, a few found it earlier. But they would all die and die and die until they gave up. Sometimes they'd kill out of frustration, and move on."

Nico shuddered suddenly. The way Toriel described all of her human children made it hard for Nico to swallow the idea. They all sounded so innocent. Flowey speaks again, Nico's reaction not overlooked.

"You'd be surprised what time can do to you."

Nico's still confused after Flowey's explanation so he pauses to think up how to phrase a question for clarification.

"But _how_? I mean, humans on the surface only have the one life, they die, and their souls go to the Underworld to be judged. It's not normal for humans to just _come back to life_ a few hours back in time."

" _I don't know._ Do I _look_ like an expert on humans? I'm only _ten_ _._ "

Nico blinks.

"Oh. Right. My bad. Do you know of anyone who might know the answer?"

Flowey sighs and rolls his eyes again.

"Maybe Alphys. She's the royal scientist. She's lazy, introverted, and bad at her job, but she also did a lot of research on humans with her predecessor. Her lab's in hot land, which is past Snowdin and Waterfall. Come find me if she tells you anything helpful, I'm leaving."

"Wait!"

Flowey glares.

"What?"

Nico figits.

"Why don't you just come with us? I've already got one tag along, why not one more?"

Flowey sneers, and his face changes again, this time growing slightly larger and with a crazy smile. His voice distorts again when he speaks.

"And why would I want to do that?"

Nico raises an eyebrow, unimpressed with the show.

"Why not? Isn't it boring being on you own?"

Flowey opens his mouth to retort, then hesitates. Nico presses on.

"Plus, if you're there when I ask Alphys about humans, you won't miss any details, and I won't have to hunt you down afterwards."

Flowey huffs.

"And how am I going to follow you? It's hard enough popping up from one place to another."

Ah. That is a good question.

"Maybe I could buy you a pot or something in Snowdin."

"Yeah, no thanks."

Nico smiles.

"Aw, come on, you don't like the idea of a pot? I'd be careful not to drop you."

"You'd sooner break the barrier than get me into a flower pot."

Nico laughs.

"It's a bet. If I break the barrier, I'm putting you in a flower pot so you don't have to dig or teleport or whatever you do to get around."

Flowey rolls his eyes again.

"Fine, good luck with that. I'll keep an eye on you, but you probably won't see me. Bye Nico."

"Bye Flowey."

Nico waves as the flower disappears into the ground. He wasn't so bad, considering his circumstances. Nico just didn't have enough information to know for sure what happened to the poor monster. So he'd wait, and think on it more later. For now, he's got a forest to walk through. He pushed the door open with a hard shove, and a gust of cold air blows in. Nico is instantly grateful for the warm clothing at the jar of fire in his jacket pocket. He pushes it open wide enough to slip through, then pushes it back shut. He takes a calming breath, then starts down the path.

It's completely silent, not at all like he'd thought it would be. It was like the only other living things out here where the trees. Nico glanced around at the snow, looking for tracks. Nothing. He keeps going, stepping over a sturdy branch as thick as his arm. A loud crack snaps the silence in two, and Nico whips around. He looks back and forth, frantically, trying to figure out what made the sound. He eyes fly over the branch, only to zero in on it. Nico's heart leaps to his throat. The branch is snapped into three pieces, and that was putting it mildly. Even from the few yards away, Nico could see the splinters of wood that snapped away from the rest. He backs away, then turns and runs. He didn't like this. He didn't like it at all. He wasn't going to be snapped in bits five minutes after leaving the ruins, but that's what that branch felt like.

A wordless, 'You're next.'

Nico doesn't stop until he reaches a bridge with strange wooden posts over it. At this point, he's huffing and at edges of a full on panic attack, so when he hears crunching snow behind him, he freezes. He's screaming at himself to _move_ but his legs refuse to listen. The crunching stops, right behind him. Something that strong could probably kill him with one direct hit, and Nico's a sitting duck with his back turned. He feels a drop of sweat run down his neck, and he's suddenly reminded of the cold. He tries not to shiver, but he can feel his hands trembling. He shoves them into his jacket with the jar, trying to warm them up.

" **Human.** "

Nico realises his hands aren't shaking from the cold as a shiver runs down his spine. The monster's voice is void of any emotion, and seems impossibly deep and hollow.

" **Don't you know how** **to greet a new pal? Turn around and shake my hand.** "

Nico could jump off the side of the bridge, but he had the feeling he wouldn't escape even then. There was nowhere to run. Nico firmly reminds himself that Toriel said that the residents of the next town where friendly. He could feel the panicked thrum of his magic underneath his skin, but he keeps it in check. Maybe he could shadow travel away if the monster made any wrong moves, but it hadn't hurt him yet. So for now, he'd do as it asked. He swallows back the fear, seeing as even turning around is easier said than done with the heavy weight of the monster's presence pressing on his back. Nico pivots on his heels, slowly. He's surprised when he comes face to face with a skeleton. I mean sure, he spends a good chunk of his time around them, but he can usually tell when he was around something that's undead. Plus, he was kind of expecting the terrifying monster to be, well, taller. And scarier. Maybe it was just Nico, but the skeleton seemed to be grinning a bit too goofily to be scary. Nico was maybe a half an inch shorter than the skeleton, while Toriel had loomed a good foot over him. Then again, monsters where super varied. He did have a tiny one resting on his shoulder, after all, so maybe he shouldn't judge too much. Nico sticks out his hand, which despite the monster's looks, is still shaking.

His body is still scared of this monster, even though his brain has decided it's not a real threat. It's been awhile since his mind and his demigod instincts were so at war, and his instincts were usually right. He'll have to compromise between the two: air on caution, but still be friendly. The skeleton takes his hand firmly in his own, and Nico feels his face go slack with shock as a rude noise echos around the otherwise silent forest. After a few seconds, his shoulders relax as his demigod instincts are put completely to the side, and the fourteen year old boy that Toriel had coaxed out over the past few days comes back. Nico starts to laugh. The skeleton chuckles.

"the old whoopie cushion in the hand trick. it's ALWAYS funny. anyways, you're a human, right?"

Nico nods, still a bit shocked at the complete change in tone.

"that's hilarious. i'm sans. sans the skeleton."

"Uh, Nico the human, but you know that part already."

Sans chuckles again, then continues, "i'm actually supposed to be on watch for humans right now. but... y'know... i don't really care about capturing anybody. now my brother, papyrus... he's a human-hunting FANATIC."

Nico isn't sure what he's supposed to say to that, so he just nods.

"hey, actually, i think that's him over there." Nico tenses considerably, "i have an idea. go through this gate thingy." Nico raises an eyebrow, "yeah, go right through. my bro made the bars too wide to stop anyone."

Sans starts herding Nico over the bridge, much to Nico's growing worry. Sans seems nice enough, but if his brother wanted to catch him, he might have to do something he doesn't want to.

"Are you sure this is a good idea? Didn't you say he was a human-hunter?"

"Yeah, don't worry it'll be fine. i have a plan, remember?"

Nico still wasn't sure, but something in Sans' voice convinced him to try. The skeleton didn't sound as emotionless as he did when he was first talking, but he showed a lot more whenever he mentioned his brother. He obviously cares about him, so Nico doubts Sans would bring him along if he thought it end in a fight. So he allows himself to be ushered into a small clearing with a lamp and a hotdog stand.

"quick, behind that conveniently-shaped lamp."

Nico blinks at the odd phrasing, but quickly realizes what Sans means once he crouches down behind it. When he sits with his back to it, it's the perfect shape to keep him completely hidden from sight. It was still weird that it was just sitting out here in the middle of the forest. Just as he settles into position, he gets a glimpse of another skeleton, taller than both Sans and Toriel, charging into the clearing. He only has a moment to see what the newcomer is wearing, but what he saw was even weirder than Sans' jacket and slippers. Nico does his best to sit still as he listens to conversation between the two brothers.

"sup, bro?"

"YOU KNOW WHAT -SUP,- BROTHER!"

Nico flinches away from the loud voice at first, but quickly adjusts to it.

"IT'S BEEN EIGHT DAYS AND YOU STILL HAVEN'T... RECALIBRATED. YOUR. PUZZLES! YOU JUST HANG AROUND OUTSIDE YOUR STATION! WHAT ARE YOU EVEN DOING?!"

"staring at this lamp." Nico tenses, a scowl slipping onto his face. "it's really cool. do you wanna look?"

Nico can hear loud stomping on half frozen snow.

"NO! I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THAT! WHAT IF A HUMAN COMES THROUGH HERE!? I WANT TO BE READY! I WILL BE THE ONE! I MUST BE THE ONE! I WILL CAPTURE A HUMAN!"

The stomping stops, and Nico risks peaking around the edge of the lamp. He has to cover his mouth to keep himself from laughing at the sight. Papyrus is stand in a heroic pose, with his cape-scarf-thing waving majestically in the wind.

"THEN, I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS... WILL GET ALL THE THINGS I UTTERLY DESERVE! RESPECT... RECOGNITION... I WILL FINALLY BE ABLE TO JOIN THE ROYAL GUARD! PEOPLE WILL ASK, TO, BE MY, -FRIEND?- I WILL BATHE IN A SHOWER OF KISSES EVERY MORNING.

The more the taller skeleton talks, the more Nico understands why Sans cares about his brother. The other skeleton seems more lonely than dangerous. A lot of what the tall monster was saying sounded a bit too much like some of the things Nico had dwelt on just a year earlier. The more Nico thought about it, the more he saw similarities between Sans' brother and his younger, more naive self. It makes his heart ache a little at his lost love for life, but he quickly reminds himself that he's come a long way, both from when Bianca died and from when he first fell into the Underground.

"hmm... maybe this lamp will help you."

"SANS! YOU ARE NOT HELPING! YOU LAZYBONES! ALL YOU DO IS SIT AND BOONDOGGLE! YOU GET LAZIER AND LAZIER EVERY DAY!"

"hey, take it easy. i've got a _ton_ of work done today." Nico leans past the other side of the lamp to look at Sans. "a skele- _ton_."

Sans winks dramatically, and Nico can almost hear the budun-tsk in the background.

"SANS!"

"come on. you're smiling."

"I AM AND I HATE IT!" Papyrus sighs. "WHY DOES SOMEONE AS GREAT AS ME... HAVE TO DO SO MUCH JUST TO GET SOME RECOGNITION..."

"wow, sounds like you're really working yourself..." Nico braces himself. "down to the bone."

Nico has to stifle another laugh. The shorter skeleton had shrugged with his wink this time.

"UGH! I WILL ATTEND TO MY PUZZLES... AS FOR YOUR WORK? PUT A LITTLE MORE, -BACKBONE- INTO IT!"

Papyrus laughs, and Nico can't help the tiny giggles that sneak out. The skeleton's laugh matches his personality perfectly. The loud skeleton leaves, and just as Nico is about to stand, the skeleton returns for one last laugh, before leaving for good.

"ok, you can come out now."

Nico dusts the snow off his backside as he walks over to stand next to Sans.

"you oughta get going. he might come back. and if he does... you'll have to sit through more of my hilarious jokes."

Nico giggles again, "Yeah, all right, thanks Sans. I'll see you later, probably."

Nico heads down the path, the same way Papyrus had gone a few moment earlier. He pauses and turns back when Sans speaks again.

"actually, hey... hate to bother ya, but can you do me a favor? i was thinking... my brother's been kind of down lately... he's never seen a human before. and seeing you might just make his day. don't worry, he's not dangerous. even if he tries to be."

Nico blinks in surprise, and opens his mouth to say no. He stops, closes his mouth, and pauses to really consider. The taller skeleton seems really sweet, if a bit over enthusiastic about, well, everything. Nico's mind shifts to his own loneliness when he was first setting into camp, all he really wanted was one good friend, someone that wasn't there to just keep him distracted from bothering the others or felt obligated to be nice to him because of his circumstances. Why not be the person he needed four years ago? Besides, if push came to shove, he could always just shadow travel out of immediate danger and run to the next area.

"I don't see why not. You're sure he won't hurt me, right?"

Sans pauses, his smile wavering in shock, then coming back to its original place.

"yeah, i'll step in if something goes too far. you're surprisingly relaxed about this, any particular reason why?"

Nico smiles, then says, "Well, it's a bit of a long and hard to explain story, but you and Papyrus are far from the scariest people I've met, even on the surface. In other words, I've met worse. Papyrus mentioned puzzles, right? That doesn't sound so bad, and I can just make a break for it if he ends up actually wanting to fight me."

Sans gives him a weird look that takes Nico a moment to understand. His eyebrows crease, a small drip of sweat appears on his forehead, but his smile remains intact. Nico realises he's never actually seen that smile completely off his face, so maybe he literally couldn't not smile? Either way, Nico rushes to reassure the skeleton.

"Really, it'll be fine, I don't want to fight anyone. No need to look so stiff jointed there."

Sans huffs out a small laugh, "was that supposed to be a joke, kid?"

Nico scratches the back of his head sheepishly as he laughs quietly too.

"Yeah, wasn't one of my better ones though."

"nah, you just missed my funnybone."

Nico snickers, and Sans winks.

"i think we're going to get along just fine, kid."

"Me too, I'm a big fan of skeletons."

Sans huffs another laugh.

"good to know. thanks a million. i'll be up ahead."

Sans turns and walks back into the forest, much to Nico's confusion. He shrugs it off and continues down the path. He comes to a fork in the road, and stops to decide which way to go. Almost as soon as he stops walking, a strange and spiky headed monster pops up from out of the snow. Nico realizes it's actually a hat made out of ice, not actually apart of it's head. He's about to say something about it when he remembers what Toriel had said about a monster called "Icecaps" didn't she say giving it a compliment would be a mistake? So Nico tares his eyes away from the hat, even though it's glittering in a dazzling way in the dim light of the cavern.

"HELLO? My hat's up here."

Nico distracts himself from the small monster, even though it's started tugging on his pant leg, trying to figure out where the light is actually coming from. The monster huffs, and sits down next to his leg. Nico watches it from the corner of his eye. From what it was saying before, it's stupidly attached to that hat, in an unhealthy sort of way. It's almost like all it's self worth is hanging on it, and he's a jerk about it too. So when Nico is sure it isn't looking, he snatches it from his head. I quickly melts in Nico's hands, and the ice cap looks like an ice cube.

"What's the point..."

Nico feels bad in that instant, but he remembers how it was acting before and presses on with his plan.

"You know, you still look fine."

"Hmm... Hats are for posers."

Nico smiles and rolls his eyes, talk about a 180 in thought process. At least it feels better about itself. Nico passes a sort of chest, then continues down the road, waving to the small ice cube sitting in the snow. He turns a corner and spots the two skeleton brothers. He pushes aside the confusion on how Sans made it here before him in favor of listening to their conversation.

"SO, AS I WAS SAYING ABOUT UNDYNE,"

Papyrus spots Nico, and Nico has to choke back a laugh at the skeleton's obvious surprise. He turns to his brother, who turns to look at Nico at the same time. They do it quite a few times, and soon Nico is giggling into his gloves. They get faster and faster, and soon Nico thinks they're just spinning in circles before they spin to face him at the same time. They stare at him for a second before they turn their backs to him.

"SANS! OH MY GOSH! IS THAT... A HUMAN!?"

They turn to face him again.

"uhhhh... actually, i think that's a rock."

Nico glances behind him, and sure enough, there's a rock sticking out of the snow.

"OH."

"hey, what's that in front of the rock?"

The extreme surprise is back, and Nico's laughing again.

"OH MY GOSH!" Papyrus puts his gloves hand up against his mouth as if to whisper, but his volume doesn't really decrease.

"(IS... IS THAT A HUMAN)"

Sans copies his motion.

"(yes)"

"OH MY GOSH! SANS! I FINALLY DID IT! UNDYNE WILL... I'M GONNA... I'LL BE SO... POPULAR! POPULAR! POPULAR!" Papyrus clears his throat, then turns to address Nico. "HUMAN! YOU SHALL NOT PASS THIS AREA! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL STOP YOU! I WILL THEN CAPTURE YOU! YOU WILL BE DELIVERED TO THE CAPITAL! THEN... THEN! I'M NOT SURE WHAT'S NEXT. IN ANY CASE! CONTINUE... ONLY IF YOU DARE!"

Papyrus runs off, cackling madly as he goes. Nico laughs again at his antics.

"well, that went well. don't sweat it, kid." Sans winks. "i'll keep an eyesocket out for ya."

Sans trots off after his brother, and Nico jogs to catch up, only to be stopped by a strange bird monster with a snowflake pattern on it's face. Before Nico can say a word, the bird starts talking.

"Ice puns are "snow" problem."

Nico huffs out a tiny laugh. As far as puns went, that one was pretty lame. But the large bird beams at him. He puffs out his chest dramatically.

"See!? Laughs! Dad was wrong!"

Just as quickly as the bird had appeared, he goes running off in the same general direction as Sans and Papyrus. Nico shrugs, seems like this is going to become a regular thing. He continues past an empty sentry station, and isn't surprised when a third comes into view. He jumps about a foot in the air when a sharp, commanding bark of a voice cuts through the air. He whips his head around to see a bipedal dog with two swords hop over the counter of his station.

"Did something move?" Nico freezes on instinct, "Was it my imagination? I can only see moving things. If something WAS moving... For example, a human... I'll make sure it NEVER moves again!"

A shiver runs down Nico's spine, but he can't help but wonder why the dog would just announce his weakness aloud. If he hadn't stopped when he had, he would have definitely just taken off running, and the dog would have been able to chase him down because of the continuous movement. Oh well, no time for speculation with a dog in camo capris around. He glances at the name card sitting on the stand. Doggo. Huh. The dog monster walks forward in a low slouch, beedy eyes shifting constantly. His dual swords glow a pale blue, and Nico stays as still as he can as the dog pauses right next to him. He's still facing towards the line of trees behind Nico. Nico gets a really really stupid idea, but if all else failed, he could probably outrun the dog long enough to find a good tree to duck behind and stay still again. So Nico silently moves the hand in the dog's blind spot, and scratches the top of his head like he does for Cerberus. Doggo goes rigid, but stays rooted to the spot.

"WHAT! I'VE BEEN PET!"

Nico has to keep his giggles under firm lockdown as the stern looking dog suddenly goes balitz, asking about pets and other variations of the word. Nico carefully puts his hand back out of reach, but stays still other than that. Soon, Doggo calms back down.

"S-S-S-Something pet me... Something that isn't m-m-moving... I'm going to need some dog treats for this!"

With that, the german shepherd-esc monster scrambles back over the counter and out of sight. Nico quietly walks out of sight of the station, and almost runs into Sans since he was looking back down the path.

"hey, there you are. i have something important for you to remember. my brother has a very special attack. if you see a blue attack, don't move and it won't hurt you. here's an easy way to keep it in mind. imagine a stop sign. when you see a stop sign, you stop, right? stop signs are red. so imagine a blue stop sign instead. simple, right? when fighting, think about blue stop signs."

Nico laughs and pats Sans' shoulder.

"That's a bizarre enough explanation that it should actually stick with me. I'm not sure if you did that on purpose or not, though."

Sans just shrugs. He spots Nico's tiny friend sitting on his shoulder, and cocks his head.

"hey, i didn't notice until now, but has that spider always been there?"

Nico smiles at his sweater clad passenger.

"Since a day or so before I came out of the Ruins, yes."

"he got a name, kiddo?"

"I'm sure he does, but I don't know what it is."

Sans shrugs, and offers a hand for his tiny friend to crawl on.

"i wouldn't be so sure. most spider parents only name the first egg sack then give up on remembering the names of them all. but you're in luck, because i happen to know msl so i can ask."

"MSL?"

"monster sign language. almost every spider knows it so they can talk to us bigger boned folk."

"Cool. So, my tiny friend? What's your name, if you were given one?"

After a series of short gestures with his front legs and little feelers, Sans translates.

"he was in the fourth egg sack his parents had, so he wasn't given one. he also wanted to tell you thanks for all the stuff you got him and for letting him come with you."

Nico beams at his tiny friend, who was shuffling from leg to leg in a sort of nervous wave of movement.

"You're very welcome. I'm glad for the company, even if I can't understand what you're saying myself. And forgive, my ignorance on the subject, but would it be okay if I gave you a name?"

Nico can make out big, hopeful eyes shining out from under his friends teeny knitted hat, and he takes it as a yes. He smiles and takes a moment to think.

"How about 'Spinner?'"

Sans' grin seems to grow larger, and the newly dubbed Spinner hops up and down excitedly. Nico offers his hand for Spinner to crawl up. He does at an alarming pace, and nuzzles up to Nico's cheek. He giggles at the feeling. Who knew spiders could be so downright _adorable_?

"Spinner it is."

Finally finding out more about his smallest friend gives Nico a new source of determination.

 **Just a quick note, a LOT of the dialog in this is straight from the game. I had the punctuation and everything, but ff.n keeps correcting it everytime I save ;-;Regardless, the dialog belongs to Toby Fox and the other creators of Undertale. And if any of the crazy amounts of exclamation points and question marks make it through I swear I am not over exaggerating Paps, that's what he's like in game and I didn't realise how silly it was until I started typing it up straight from my own play through. Send help.**


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